The Adventures of Alfred, the wanna be pokemon master
by ChildOfTheMoon86
Summary: Pokémon trainer au! Alfred is a budding Pokemon trainer with dreams of becoming the worlds greatest Pokemon master. There's just one small problem… Alfred is terrified of ghost Pokemon. The solution? Find the best ghost type trainer around, Arthur, and ask for their help. But as with everything in Alfred's life, nothing goes accordingly to plan. Let the adventures begin!
1. The adventure begins

"Are you __really__ sure about this Al?" Asked Matthew, eyes worriedly following his twins movements.

"For the last time Mattie, __yes__!" Replied Alfred as he busily ran about gathering the last of the supplies he needed for starting his journey.

"Don't worry Mattie, I'll be __fine__. I'm gonna be the worlds greatest Pokemon master, take down the elite four and become the new champion, just you wait!"

"I know you like to dream big, but you've never even been past the city before and going on a journey is really hard…"

Alfred paused mid step and turned to regard his twin brother. Matthew stared at him with such worry it almost made Alfred reconsider leaving and just staying home. Almost. Taking two short strides, Alfred stood on front of his brother and gave his best smile.

"Really Mattie, I'll be fine. I'm ready to go out and experience the world for myself. And hey, don't forget I won't be alone, I've got Bouffy with me!" Bouffy, Matthew smiled at the mention of the affectionate nickname Alfred gave his buaffalant. Alfred and his buaffalant have been inseparable ever since their parents gave Bouffy to Al for his tenth birthday. A buaffalant might seem like a bit much for a ten year old, but not Al. Personally, Matthew much prefers his cubchoo, Kuma to Al's giant pokemon. Unlike most kids who got their first Pokemon for the professor at the Pokemon lab in the city near by, they got theirs from the farm their parents run. But in exchange for getting their Pokemon their parents made them wait to going on a journey until they we're older. They've both learnt a lot from working on the farm but now Al wants to get out and see the world. Honestly Matthew can't blame him, he to, thinks a journey would be good for his brother, but there's just one problem.

"But what if you run into a ghost Pokemon?"

"G-g-ghost?" Though he tries to hide it, Mat can tell Al is shaking, only slightly from the mention alone of ghost types.

"You know how scared of them you are-"

"I'm not scared!"

"-and Bouffy is a normal type, he can't fight ghost types." Al takes a moment to calm himself before smiling confidently at his twin.

"I know, don't worry I've thought about that and I know just what am gonna do!" Alfred turns back to his bag and rummages around for a few seconds till he pulls a map from the depths. "See I had been thinking about leaving for ages, but the thought of running into ghost Pokemon alone was to sc- uh, unnerving. Then it hit me! I need a travel partner who can handle the ghosts for me!"

"That's… actually rather smart of you."

"Thanks. I kinda wanted you to go on this journey with me, but we both know your a home body and I wouldn't feel right asking you to leave when you don't wanna. So then I thought, who could be my partner? Then I realised the answer was obvious, the best ghost trainer around! They can deal with ghosts since they train them and they can help me get over my, uh.. aversion. After all the worlds most awesome Pokemon master can't be afraid of ghost types!"

"Huh, I guess you have thought about this. But Al, we don't know any ghost trainers and what makes you think they'll agree?"

"I don't but, Gil told me about a guy and how to get him to agree to anything."

"Really?"

"Yup, his name's Arthur Kirk-something and all I have to do is eat some of his food and he'll be willing to agree!" Alfred gave Mat that over confident smile again but Matthew didn't feel any more reassured by it. But it did sound like a solid plan and if it worked Al would be able to get past ghost types safely and he'd have a travel partner to help make sure he didn't do anything stupid. "So… you know where to find this Arthur?"

"Yup, Gil told me where I could fined him, see?" Alfred asked as he waved his map at Matthew's face. Grabbing Alfred's wrist to stop the map, Mat could see the dark woods were circled. The woods are a 3 days walk from the farm but they're also full of ghost Pokemon.

"Al, you do realise the dark woods are full of ghost Pokemon right? And to find this guy you'll have to go through the woods, alone, right?" Mat could see his brother swallow nervously before nodding.

"This'll just be the first challenge on my journey, but I can do it!" Matthew sighed before smiling at his twin.

"There really is no stopping you is there? Okay, if you're really set on this then, good luck."

"Thanks bro, that means a lot."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

And so that was how Alfred found himself lost in the Dark woods in the middle of the night. ' _ _It's okay, I can handle this.__ ' Al thought to himself. ' _ _Just don't run into any ghosts and you'll be fine!__ ' He had been ridiculously lucky so far and hadn't seen one ghost since entering the forest. ' _ _Damn it! I should have known Gil would give me bad directions.__ ' Alfred chose to blame Gilbert for his predicament and not the fact he wasn't paying attention. ' _ _Come on, come on, where is this guy? And why does he hang out in a haunted forest all day anyway!?__ ' Perhaps, Al thinks he should have asked that before leaving.

And so Alfred trudges on, feeling like he's being watched and seriously considering going home and just giving up on this whole journey thing. That is, until he sees the gentle glow of a fire up ahead. Feeling saved Alfred charges uncaringly through the woods towards the light. After what feels like an eternity Alfred enters a clearing and finds a small campfire and a tent. Looking around and seeing no one Al decides to sit down and wait for the camp owner to come back, the fires still going so they can't be far. About ten minutes later Alfred hears footsteps approaching. He quickly stands and looks about. Then a figure appears through the woods from the opposite direction he had come. The stranger pauses for a moment before speaking.

"Let me guess, your lost, right?"

"Uh, yeah." Now out in the light of the fire Al could see the strangers appearance better. He wore dark trousers and a grey t-shirt with a ghost symbol on the front. He also was wearing a dark purple cloak for some reason. Messy blonde hair sat atop a frowning face, green eyes piercing him with a fierce glare and those eyebrows! Al almost burst out laughing at the sight. Then the stranger spoke again.

"Fine, you can stay but only for the night, come morning your gone, got that?" They asked.

"Thanks, hey do you know a guy called Arthur? He's supposed to be in these woods but I think I got bad directions." Alfred questioned remembering the reason he came to the woods in the first place.

"Yes, I'm Arthur, why are you looking for me?" The stranger, Arthur, gave him a guarded look.

"You? But you're supposed to be some awesome ghost trainer." Alfred couldn't believe this, this guy was who he's been looking for?

"I do specialise in ghost types, what of it?" Arthur seemed to becoming more agitated but Al payed him no mind.

"Really? You don't look like it." ' _ _This couldn't really be the guy, could it?__ '

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Oh, now he looked angry, better back track fast.

"Nothing, I just was kinda expecting something else I guess not uh.." ' _ _Mr. Grumpy pants eyebrow face here.__ '

"Not what?" ' _ _Oh he looks livid, quick abort plan, abort!__ '

"Some grumpy Grampa sculling in the woods all night." That was not what he meant to say!

"That's it! I've heard enough, leave!" Arthur stepped forward threateningly.

"What? Come on dude, I'm only joking." Alfred tries to plead backing up.

"Leave, before I make you!" Arthur continues his advance.

"Come on, it was a joke." ' _ _This is bad, this is bad!__ '

"I've had enough of you! Pumpkin! Shadow ball!" Arthur calls as he pulls a pokeball from behind his back. ' _ _Oh no, that's a ghost type move, please tell me that doesn't mean-__ '

"Pum- AAAAaaaaaaarrrrrrhhhhhhh!" Alfred dropped to the ground in an instant at the sight of the pumpkaboo. Clutching his ears and forehead pressed against his knees brought up to his chest, Alfred screams his lungs out.

"What the hell?" Arthur stops and stares at the boy, cowering and screaming, looking utterly terrified.

"Aaaaaahhhh!"

"Are, are you scared of pumpkin?" ' _ _This can't be happening.__ '

Yup, this is the start of a wonderful adventure.

* * *

 **Authors notes:** This was first published on tumblr but thought I might as well put it up here too. This is my first time writing a fic and publishing it so review please?


	2. Making plans

Arthur watched Alfred carefully as if he expected him to break down into hysterics at any moment. "Better?" After Alfred's little episode he had recalled Pumpkin to her pokeball and had proceeded to spend the next 20 minutes calming Alfred down enough for him to talk. They now sat by the fire and, like any civilised person should when faced with someone experiencing any kind of emotional turmoil, he offered him tea.

Gulping down the tea in the thermos Arthur gave him, Alfred let's out a deep sigh before answering. "Yeah, thanks."

"Good." Arthur says as he accepts the thermos back. "Let's try this again. Why are you looking for me? You know I'm a ghost type trainer but your scared of ghosts? That doesn't seem to make much sense to me."

"Hehe, yeah guess not." Alfred laughs nervously scratching the back of his head. "Okay you see it's like this..." and so Alfred begins to explain his plan to Arthur.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

After quietly listening to Alfred's plan Arthur simply responds with "Huh."

"Huh? That's all you got to say?" Alfred stares at Arthur with a look of complete surprise. "So does that mean you wanna join me?"

"I never said that." Arthur falls quiet for a moment clearly considering the situation. "This plan of yours clearly benefits you, but what would I get out of it if I were to join you on your journey? After all, I'm perfectly fine being on my own and see no reason to leave the dark woods any time soon? So, why should I join you?"

"Uh... I'll eat your food?" Now that he says it, that doesn't sound like a very convincing argument. Alfred had simply hoped that the guy would agree if he ate some of his food, but he never considered that Arthur would want to gain something else in return for joining him. Crap, what's he supposed to do now?

You'll... eat my food?" Why does he sound so hopeful saying that? His food can't be that bad can it?

"Uh, yeah?" Okay, maybe he was worrying about this for no reason.

"Excellent! Here try one of these, I made them fresh this morning!" Arthur says this as he excitedly grabs for his bag sitting by his tent, the happiest Alfred had seen him since meeting. He watches as Arthur pulls a plastic tub out and offers him the contents. Alfred cautiously takes one of the objects, a rounded crumbly, light brown piece of food about the size of the palm of his hand. Turning it over he can see small patches of black were the food was burnt, not enough to be considered ruined or too noticeable but definitely there. Arthur seems to notice him looking at the burnt patches as he says rather sheepishly "They did get a bit burnt around the edges, cooking over a campfire isn't the easiest from making scones." Alfred turns the scone over in his hands some more before looking up at Arthur.

"A scone huh? I think I might have had one before at a festival once." ' _Well it can't be that bad right? It looks okay, besides the slight burning and beside if I eat this then he'll have to agree to join me._ ' Giving the scone one last cautious look Alfred slowly raises it to his mouth and takes a bite. It's not horrible thankfully, a bit dense and could probably do with a bit more flavour but the burning isn't overly noticeable, so overall Alfred decides it's not bad, definitely not the worst thing he's ever eaten. He looks up to Arthur and the hopeful look he's giving him is almost too much. Smiling Alfred says "Not bad." and takes another bite.

"R-really?" Arthur looks so shocked for a moment as he watches Alfred happily munch away on his food. Then in an instant his face breaks out in a face splitting grin as he offers Alfred the rest of the tub. "Here, eat as much as you like!" Swallowing, Alfred reaches for another and takes a bite before asking "So, du' 'is 'en 'o'll 'oin me?" Arthur's face contours into one of disgust before answering.

"Please don't talk with your mouth full, it's disgusting and I have no idea what you just said."

"Oh, 'ory." Cleansing his mouth of food Al asked again " I said, so, does this mean you"ll join me?"

"I don't see why not." Alfred is so completely shocked by this response it takes him a moment to process that Arthur had just agreed to join him on his journey, all his ghost related problems have been solved!

"Seriously? You'll really join me? Sweet!"

Arthur smirks at him before telling him "Well you never asked, but I'm technically on my own journey but I don't have any particular destination in mind so I don't mine going with you. You do have a destination right, or at least a plan on where you want to go?"

"Huh, guess I never thought to ask, but yeah I have a plan, become the worlds greatest Pokemon master!" Alfred spreads his arms out as he proclaims his goal. But rather than receiving the praise he expects Arthur gives him an unimpressed look.

"Yes, but how do you plan to do that?" Alfred notices Arthur asks a lot of question.

"Isn't it obvious? Beat the gyms, win the league, take down the elite four and become the new champion!"

"Ah." Arthur sighs "So, you mean the same as every ten year old, only your what, 14?"

"16, and those kids all give up before the third gym but not me! Unlike then I'm set on this, just you wait, Feliciano won't know what hit him! And how old are you?"

"If you must know I'm 20, but at least you know who the current champion is, that's a start I suppose." There's that smirk again. "Alright, so then, where do you want to go?"

"As far away from this forest as possible for a start."

"And after that?"

"The closes gym! Which is uh..." Arthur sighs at Alfred's lack of direction, something he'll be doing a lot he thinks. Embarrassed at not having thought this far a head, Alfred rummages around in his bag and pulls out his map, turning it about for a better look in the fire light before finally finding a destination.

"Marcel city!"

"That's a few days walk south of here if I remember, Alright we leave first thing in the morning."

"Wait you don't expect me to sleep here do you?!" Alfred worriedly looked around him as if just remembering that the woods were haunted. Arthur raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, there's no point leaving now and besides if your so worried about ghosts then you should know they'll be less active during the day, so you'll be less likely to run into them. I'm not going to sit through your screaming all the way through the woods when we leave so your just going to have to wait the night out here."

"But what if the ghosts come in here?!" Arthur sighs again something Alfred is getting the feeling he does a lot.

"Do you have a repel or a cleanse tag?"

"What's a cleanse tag?" Arthur reaches into his bag and pulls a small piece of paper out and offers it to him.

"Here, this is a cleanse tag, if you keep it on you pokemon will be less likely to come near you. Think of it like a repel."

"Oh, thanks." Alfred takes the tag and holds it close. Suddenly Arthur stands and stretches.

"Okay, I'm going to bed now, good night." Without waiting for an answer he heads for his tent and climbs inside closing it up behind him.

"Uh, night." ' _There's no way I'm gonna get any sleep to night._ ' That's about the last thing Alfred thinks before he sets in for a night of staring at the fire before he slowly falls asleep.

* * *

 **Authors notes:** So this was mostly just a transitional chapter but a few important thing have now happened mainly Arthur's agreed to join Alfred and Al learns that Arthur's food isn't as bad as he thought, or Al just has no sense of taste... and yes Italy is the champion. How did that happen? You'll just have to wait and see. Also I should say this doesn't take place in any particular region of the games, there in their own region.


	3. Getting to know each other

Alfred was having a wonderful dream, he had defeated the elite four and was just about to challenge the champion. Yup it was a pretty good dream, that was till he felt a foot nudging, though it felt more like kicking, him in his side forcing him to wake up and leave the dream behind.

Groggily Alfred looked at the foot then looked up to its owner. Arthur stood above Alfred, arms crossed and looking down at him rather impatiently. Seeing Alfred awake he continued to stare as he gave him another particularly hard nudge. Quickly scrambling away from the foot to avoid any further assault Alfred grumpily asks "Why'd'y keep kickin' me?"

Smirking Arthur sarcastically says "Oh, good he lives. Ready to leave now?"

" _Wha_?" Blinking a few times Alfred finally remembers were he is and jumps to his feet. " Oh! Yeah, we can go, the sooner the better."

"Good, then let's go." With that Arthur starts to head out the clearing.

"Wait what about your tent?" Alfred turns to where the tent had been only to be met with the open grass of the clearing, now slightly squished from being slept on. "Huh, you're all ready packed?"

Arthur pauses by the clearing edge to say " Yes, and I filled up my water bottle with fresh water from the creek nearby. I even had some berries to eat."

"What? You already ate breakfast? Why didn't you wake me?" Alfred pouts as he walks over to join Arthur.

"I tried, not my fault you wouldn't wake up." Once Alfred reaches the clearing edge Arthur resumed walking. Alfred's stomach gives a low growl as they walk and Arthur sighs. "Don't you have anything yourself? You didn't come all the way out here and not bring any food did you?"

"I did but I ate the last of it yesterday..."

"Well, I don't have anything either..." another particularly loud growl escapes Alfred's bottomless pit of a stomach and he sighs to himself. ' _ _Why'd I not bring more food?__ ' After a moment of quite walking Arthur surprises Alfred by saying "But, I do have some berries left. I suppose you can have some."

"What? You really mean it?" Alfred hungrily watches as Arthur stops to rummage in his bag and pulls two pecha berries from the front compartment.

"Here."

"Sweet, thanks!" Arthur watches in mixed awe and disgust as Alfred finished both berries in two mouthfuls. "Man, that hit the spot." Hunger now satisfied for the time being, Alfred happily bounds on a head. Arthur just shakes his head and follows.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

About 20 minutes of silence later Alfred can't take it anymore and decides it's time he gets to know his new travel partner better. But before that, a thought occurs to him.

"Hey, Artie-"

"Don't call me that!"

"Why haven't we seen any ghost Pokemon? Come to think of it I haven't seen any since I entered the forest. I thought this place was supposed to be full of them?" Arthur's turns to regard Alfred a moment before answering.

"Well, a few reasons. Right now it's day time and most ghost Pokemon prefer to sleep during the day since their active at night. The cleanse tag I gave you will also be keeping the more timid ones away. But most likely you haven't seen any because they know your afraid and don't want to scare you."

"Wait, What?" Alfred stops walking to stare at Arthur. He thought Arthur was supposed to be an expert on ghost types so surely he should know that ghost Pokemon love to scare people, they practically live for it!

Judging by the look he gives Al, Arthur must know what he's thinking as he says "Contrary to what most people believe ghost Pokemon don't always want to scare people. Yes, they do enjoy giving people frights but they are not heartless, they won't scare people that they know are truly terrified of them. Scaring people and Pokemon to them is a practical joke, a prank but really their actually very nice if you get to know them. That's part of the reason I agree to join you. As a ghost type trainer, part of my goal is to educate people on the misconceptions of ghosts types, it wouldn't be right for me to let you go on being afraid of them. You told me you consider getting over your fear as part of your goal to becoming a Pokemon master, then in the same way, helping you to over come your fear will further my goal to becoming a ghost type master."

"Wow, guess I never thought of it like that." Arthur flashes a sad smile and whispers "Most people don't." as he continues walking, forcing Alfred to follow.

After a moment Al, decides now's the time for that getting to know your partner stuff.

"Alright, well, since we're just walking here, let's get to know each other better. I know you train ghosts, have a pumpkaboo and are 20 but that's about it! As travel partners we should know more than that!"

"Hmm, I suppose you do have a point. It would be beneficial to know at least the basics about each other if we'll be together for a while. Alright, question for a question, but if one of us doesn't want to answer then we don't push it, got that?"

"Yup! Okay, I'll start. So, uh what's your full name?"

"Oh, I suppose I never did properly introduce myself." Arthur stops for a moment to offer his hand for a handshake. Taking the hand Alfred smiles as he gives a firm shake as Arthur says "Arthur Ignatius Kirkland, a pleasure to meet you."

"Alfred F. Jones, same!" Arthur drops his hand and raises an inquisitive eyebrow. "F?"

"Yup."

"But what's it stand for?"

"No idea, my parents told me I have to guess and they'd tell me when I got it right, but nothing I guessed was it. I think Mattie knows but he won't tell me, the ass."

Arthur chuckles as they start walking again.

"Mattie?"

"My twin bro, and that's two questions."

"Alright, you have two questions then."

"Okay, what other Pokemon do you have?"

"Besides Pumpkin, I have Torch my Lampet, and Casper my Misdreavus."

"Huh, I thought you'd have more."

"I do, but their at home with my brothers."

"You have brothers?"

"Yes, four of them and the less said about them the better."

"They can't be that bad."

"You don't know them then, or you would agree. My turn, What Pokemon do you have?"

"Just Buaffy, he's my buaffalant!"

"Only one? Guess you really are just starting out huh?"

"Yup, my parents run the Meadow Plains farm so they gave me Buaffy when I turned ten. But they wouldn't let me go on an adventure until I was older so here I am!"

"When you said you we're just starting out, I didn't think you meant you started only a few days ago."

"Yeah, but look how far I've got! I found you and have a travel partner and now we're on our way to getting my first gym badge!"

"Well you certainly don't lack enthusiasm, I'll give you that."

"Okay, next question, why were you hanging out in the Dark Woods? You know, besides all the ghosts."

"Oh, that's simple, I heard Giratina was seen here."

"Holy! What?! Giratina? As in the legendary Pokemon, Giratina?!"

Arthur gave him an unimpressed look and voice heavy with sarcasm "No, Giratina the Magikarp. Yes, the legendary Pokemon."

"Wha... ah, uh..." Alfred didn't know how to respond to that much less how to feel about it. On one had, meting a legendary Pokemon is a once in a lifetime chance, but on the other...ghost Pokemon. This is a dilemma that could very nearly break Alfred, that is until Arthur waves his hand in front of his face.

"Helllooo? Earth to Alfred? Did you hear me?"

"Uh, what?"

"I said I never managed to find Giratina, it must of moved on before I got here."

"Oh..." Again Alfred is faced with the same dilemma now only reversed.

"Well it doesn't matter much now, we're out of the Dark Woods."

Blinking a few times to register the words, Alfred looks out to the now open plains and dirt path leading away from the woods. Letting out a whoop of joy, he runs down the path breathing in the fresh air as if he had been confined indoors all day and was only now just allowed out. Arthur simply shakes his head and follows on.

"Come on Artie!"

"I told you not to call me that!"

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Meanwhile...

In a gym not too far away, a battle is coming to an end. With one last crushing blow the outcome is decided.

"Wurmple is no longer able to battle! The gym leader wins!" Battle over the challenger runs out of the gym, presumably to the nearest Pokemon center to care for their defeated team.

"Aiya, what's with all these weak challengers lately? I mean he used a Wurmple for crying out loud! Of course he was never going to win. Just once, I wish a decent challenge would come along..."

* * *

 **Authors notes:** And the plot progresses, somewhat. They're out of the woods now at leat. Just some fun getting to know each other stuff and a little sneak into who the first gym leader might be. Review make my day so please? Maybe? Oh and check out my tumblr, same username, I'll be posting some world building art and a few animations of scenes as I write this. Thanks for stopping by, stay awesome!


	4. On the road to Marcel city

Most of the past two days had been spent walking, the silence filled with Alfred's mindless chatter and with only a few short stops along the way. Alfred insisting that they keep going, wanting to reach Marcel city as soon as possible. For the most part the journey was relatively uneventful, with the exception of a few... minor details.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Alfred, I'm letting them out and that's final. They've been in their balls all day, it's only fair they get to come out. Plus I still need to feed them." Arthur sighs, tired of this argument. It had started so simply, Arthur mentioned stopping for a quick break to let the Pokemon out and to have lunch, or what little lunch they could have, with their food supplies running so low. At first Alfred was happy to agree to lunch, until his brain caught up with the rest of what Arthur had said. Now, they were still walking, Alfred refused to stop even as they argued, and we're still no closer to an agreement.

"Yeah I know but..." Alfred worriedly glances at Arthur in case he were to just let the ghosts out without any other warning.

"No, no buts, your not a child, as much as you act like one. Look, how do you expect to get over your fears if you won't even try?" Alfred looks away at that, knowing Arthur's right but not quite wanting to admit it. "Here, we'll do this one at a time okay? You've already seen Pumpkin so she would be no bother."

"Do we really have to?" Deciding to take desperate measures, Al gives Arthur his best puppy dog eyes and pouts. The look has never failed him before, no one is immune to the kicked puppy look! ...Except, apparently, Arthur.

"Yes, and stop that you look ridiculous." ' _ _How could my ultimate weapon fail?!__ '

"Look, see? Normal pokeball, nothing to be afraid off." Alfred rolls his eyes ' _ _It's not the pokeball that I don't like, it's what's inside it.__ ' "Now just take a deep breath and try to stay calm, and please, don't scream like your being murdered this time."

Huffing Alfred grumbles under his breath but does as he's told. ' _ _Okay, deep breath, in...out...stay calm, don't freak. I can do this!__ ' Arthur smiles as Al let's out his breath. "Good, now, Pumpkin come on out dear, and meet Alfred."

' _ _Oh, crap, I can't do this!__ ' Is all the time to think Al gets before the pokeball in Arthur's had opens and the light pours out to form and reveal the dreaded ghost. ' _ _Stay calm! Stay calm!__ ' Are the only thoughts in Al's head for he fears if he thinks anything else he'll break down all over again.

"See? Nothing to be afraid off." Alfred's not really paying attention as Arthur smiles at his Pokemon.

"Pum, Pum?" Pumpkaboo asks sounding curious as it floats closer.

"Eeeaahhhggg!" Is the embarrassing sound Alfred makes as the ghost comes closer.

"Er, Pumpkin dear, I think you best not get too close, we don't want to break him." Arthur chuckles nervously seeing how on edge Alfred becomes as Pumpkin edges closer.

"Pumka, boo?" ' _ _Huh'__ Al thinks as the Pokemon floats back to its trainer ' _ _is it just me, or does it, did Arthur say she before?, sound kinda sad.__ ' Alfred questions with in the confines of his mind as he warily watches the ghost Pokemon.

"Don't be sad dear, Alfred here is a bit afraid of ghost types, but we'll work together to help him get over his fear. But for now, how about some lunch?"

Alfred thinks his stomach must have ears as at the mention of food it gives a loud growl.

"Hehe, guess I could go something to eat, and Bouffy'll be hungry too." Happy to have a distraction, if only for a moment, Alfred pulls his pokeball from his pocket and let's out his beloved Bouffalant.

"Booouu!" The Pokemon cries as sound as it's let out, turning and giving his trainer a strong shove.

"Hehe, sorry Bouffy, guess your just as hungry as me huh? Well one thing I did pack enough of was your food." As Alfred sets to putting out Bouffy's food he hears the sound of more pokeballs opening. Spinning around he sees two more Pokémon floating by Arthur and promptly faints.

"Ah, I guess 3 at once was a bit much. Well I'll just feed you 3 then wake him up."

"Booouufff!"

"Oh, and you too Bouffalant."

"Bouffalant."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

So, yes for the most part everything went okay. Apart from the fainting, Alfred considers yesterday a success, after all, he was able to not break down in front of Pumpkaboo, that's got to count for something!

Now, today was the day they would reach Marcel city and have his first gym battle! Alfred couldn't wait. After all he was on a roll, he totally kicked that other guys ass!

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Hey, look their's someone coming this way." Both trainers squint to focus on the figure approaching them down the path.

"They're probably heading for the Dark Woods then. Honestly I'm surprised we haven't run into someone sooner." As the figure gets closer Alfred waves to them and is pleased when the gesture is returned.

"Well they're friendly, let's go say hi!" Without waiting for a response Alfred runs on ahead down the path.

"Hey there!" Al calls once close enough "You heading to the Dark Woods?"

"Yeah, looking for some good ghost Pokemon to add to my team. Know any?"

Alfred tries his best not to looked panicked at the mention of ghosts and says "Uh, not really. My friend here is the expert on ghosts, not me."

"Oh, Really?" The traveler asks, looking past Alfred to Arthur just now reaching them.

"Yup, Hey, Artie-"

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that!"

"Know any cool ghost Pokemon in the woods?"

"A few, mostly those woods have Phantump and Trevenant but there are some Pumpkaboo too and if your really lucky you might find a Shedinja."

"Wow, you really know your stuff." Arthur looks quite smug at that.

"Of course. What ghost trainer doesn't know where to find ghost Pokemon?"

Annoyed at being ignored, Alfred decides to jump back in and ask.

"Hey man, since your a trainer wanna battle?" The traveler smiles at the offer.

"Alright, I'm game. Let's go."

The pair move off into the grassy plains at the set distance apart. Arthur follows and stands in the middle off to the side and calls out to the pair.

"I'll referee then. Since Alfred only has one Pokémon, this will be a one on one battle, no time limit. The battle will end when one Pokemon can no longer fight or a trainer forfeits, agreed?"

Alfred excitably bounces on the spot and drops his bag.

"Sounds good to me!"

"Same here." The traveler agrees.

Dropping his own bag Arthur calls out "Alright, choose your Pokemon!"

Alfred can hardly contain himself, this will be his first Pokemon battle since starting his journey! Smiling wide he pulls out his pokeball.

"Time to shine Bouffy!" Tossing the ball into the air, his Pokemon makes its appearance.

"Bouff." The Pokemon huffs, ready for battle.

"A Bouffalant, eh? Not bad. Now here's my partner!" Alfred eagerly watches for the reveal as the pokeball is tossed straight up in the air. ' _ _What's it gonna be?__ '

"Let's go, Swinub!" The traveler calls as the Pokemon is revealed.

Seeing both Pokemon out Arthur calls to start the battle "Both trainers are ready, battle start!"

Not one to stand about Alfred jumps into action.

"Alright Bouffy, let's win this! Horn attack, go!"

"Bou!" Alfred's Pokemon is quick to respond, breaking into a run, it heads straight for its opponent, horn glowing with power and angled down for the hit.

"Ha, like I'll let you. Swinub, go between its legs and use Powder Snow!" Unable to stop from its momentum in time the Swinub easily runs between Bouffalant's legs and aims a strong Powder Snow at its belly.

"Haha! Like that'll bother us! Bouffy, show that Swinub who's boss! Stomp!"

"Booooaaaaffff!" Rearing up the Swinub below is left no where to go.

"Ah, Swinub, get out of there!" But the call comes too late as Bouffalant brings its weight down on the Pokemon below with a heavy stomp.

"Swwii!" Now trapped beneath Bouffy's hoof Alfred plans to finish the battle.

"Alright Bouffy, use Horn Attack while you've got it pinned!"

"Swinub! Endure quick!" This time the call is fast enough as just before Bouffy's horn makes contact the Swinub glows with power. Swinging it's head down and around Bouffalant throws the Swinub through the air to land across the field.

"Swwi- __winnn__..." Slowly the Swinub stands.

"That's it Swinub! We're not done yet! Powder Snow again!"

"That worked the first time but not again! Bouffy, Rage! The snow attack hits but Bouffalant charges forward as if unaffected, glowing from the power boost of Rage and lands the final blow to Swinub, sending it rolling across the field once more.

"Swinub is no longer able to battle, Bouffalant wins!" Arthur's call drives home the knowledge that Alfred's won and he jumps in the air giving a whoop of joy.

"Wooo! Yeah, I knew we could beat them, way to go Bouffy!" Running forward Alfred launches himself at his Pokemon, embracing him in a hug.

"Aw, damn, I thought we really had you there at the start." The traveler picks up his defeated Pokémon. "Don't worry Swinub, we'll win next time. You rest now."

Recalling his Pokemon The traveler departs for the Woods. "Thanks for the battle, maybe I'll see you around some time for a rematch."

"Sure!"

Once gone Arthur joins Alfred by his Pokemon.

"Well what do you know, your not a half bad battler."

"You sound surprised."

Arthur nods his head. "I am. Not a lot of people just starting out can handle a battle with such a large Pokemon so easily, especially against a smaller opponent."

"What can I say, I'm awesome!" Alfred flashes his winning smile and recalls Bouffy.

"You sound like that __ass__ , Gilbert when you say that."

"Hey, Gil's awesome! Have you __seen__ his torchic?"

"Yes, the pest tries to peck me every time it sees me. Still, it was funny when it pooped in his hair that one time." Arthur smirks at the memory. Alfred burst out in uncontrollable laughter at the idea.

"Oh man, I wish I could have seen that! Hahaha!" Arthur nods his head sagely.

"It's what he gets for keeping a hatchling on his head." Still laughing Alfred tries to contain himself long enough to ask.

"Say, how do you know Gil anyway? I mean I know he does other stuff when he isn't working as a farm hand for my parents but he never told me how he knew you." Arthur seems to mull over wether he should tell Alfred or not. Finally he settles on "Let's just say we met through a mutual friend. Well, more a friend of a friend but still."

"Oh, Okay. Come on, Marcel city can't be much further!"

"You never can just sit still for 5 minutes can you?" Arthur says this but he makes no objection to heading back onto the path with Alfred.

"Why would I sit around? There's a whole __world__ out there! Just you wait Artie, this is just the beginning!"

"And I'll make it your __end__ if you keep calling me that!"

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** They'll get there, eventually... but hey first battle of the story, what do you guys think? The traveler is just a random person... or are they? Who knows... and yes, Gilbert has a Torchic, Yup, you guessed it, it's Gilbird.

But I wonder what's with the lack of traveling trainers? Maybe plot? Maybe not.

And yeah, I'm going with the anime version of Pokemon saying there names, let me know if you guys like that or would you prefer them just making random sound like in the games?

Tune in next time, when our hero's finally make it to Marcel city and the first gym!

Review please, maybe? Till next time stay awesome!


	5. Marcel City

"Finally." Alfred sighs as the outskirts of Marcel city become visible in the distance. "Come on Artie! We're almost their."

"Stop calling me that!" Arthur fumes and once again Alfred elects to ignore him and call him by that horrible nickname. Not caring for Arthur's bad mood, Al charges on ahead into town. It had been a long week, setting out, getting lost in the woods, finding Arthur, ghost Pokemon, convincing Arthur, ghost Pokemon, traveling together for the first time, battling! Oh, and did he mention ghost Pokemon?! Yeah, safe to say this had been the most eventful week Alfred's had in a long while, and he was loving it!

Marcel city has quite an interesting history. What started out as a rest stop for travellers going between Drake Force Fort, on the other side of the Vail rock mountains, and Lux city had grown over time into the now bustling city it is today. The Gym itself is said to sit on the site of the original rest stop built all those years ago.

But Alfred couldn't care less about all that as he quickly passes through the residential area that makes up the outskirts of the city. Nor does he stop once in the more business side of town, he's a man on a mission and he has only one destination in mind.

'There!' His mindless running pays off, as before him the entrance to the gym is in sight! Alfred slows to take in the sight as he passes through the outer gate, heading straight for the front doors. Above him a sign atop the gate proudly reads:

 ** **Marcel City Gym****

 ** **and Trainer Dojo****

Alfred let's out a low whistle as he walks through the courtyard. Statues of fists rising into the air line the path to the doors, probably meant to intimidate but only serving to excite Alfred even more. He can't wait another second, Al makes to run straight through the doors... Or he would, if he wasn't stopped the second he started to run by his bag being grabbed, acting like a bungee and bouncing backwards into the hold of his captor.

Looking round Alfred is met with a sight he's slowly becoming familiar with, an unimpressed Arthur.

"And, prey tell, just where do you think your going, hmm?" Alfred looks at Arthur like he's grown two heads.

"Uh, The Gym? Duh." Alfred tries to move forward but is still held in place by Arthur's hold on his bag, he thinks about just pulling his arms out and leaving Arthur with the bag but Arthur would probably just stop him again. So he decides to just stay still for the moment.

"No your not, first things first, before any gym battle you should take your Pokemon the the Pokemon center for a full health check to make sure their fighting fit. And you fought that trainer before, remember? Bouffalant needs the care before going into another battle. Doing anything less is just plain reckless and irresponsible!"

"Oh, uh, yeah your right. Guess in all the excitement I kinda for got about that." A look of complete anger crosses Arthur's face as he releases his hold on Alfred only to bring the hand back down to smack Alfred up side the head.

"Oooww! What was that for!" This only seems to make Arthur angrier as he snaps at Al.

"Your Pokémon's health comes before anything else! No exceptions, no excuses!" Alfred finds himself speechless as he's struck with a sense of déjà vu.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

 _ _Alfred couldn't stop crying, he was sorry but that didn't make things better.__

 _"_ _ _Bouuu..." Bouffy huffs warm air in his face trying to comfort it's child trainer, but this only made Alfred cry harder.__

 _"_ _ _I-I'm s-s-sorry B-bouffy!" He sobs into the Pokemon's fur.__

 _"_ _ _Ya see! What did I tell you! You shouldn't have made him work with gear you've never used before!" Gilbert shouts from some were above the pair.__

 _"_ _ _I-I'm s-sorr-ry!" He's the worst trainer ever! His Pokémon is hurt and it's all his fault! Gilbert sighs and pats his back.__

 _"_ _ _It ain't me you should apologise to. Come on now, at least it wasn't anything worse than a sprained ankle. A few days rest and Bouffy'll be up and about no problem." The words are comforting but do nothing to help stop Alfred's tears.__

 _"_ _ _B-bouf-fy!"__

 _ _Come on now, let's get you two back home. But remember Alfred you should always consider your Pokemon's health before anything else, no matter what, got that?" Alfred tearily nods into the fur of his injured Pokemon.__

 _"_ _ _Good."__

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Bowing his head in shame Alfred nods.

"Yeah, your right. I should think about Bouffy first." Surprised by the reaction, Arthur calms down and nods to Alfred.

"Well, at least you know better. Come on I saw a Pokemon center not far from here." Smiling back at Al, Arthur's adds "and besides, you still need to register into the league before you can challenge any gym. Something else you forgot in your excitement, hmm?" Snapping his head up Alfred face palms at his forgetfulness.

"Damn, you're right! Come on!"

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Here we are." Arthur waves to the large building before them and honestly, Alfred wonders how he missed it before. The four story building is topped with the recognisable red of pokeballs and a large LED light above the door clearly reads:

 ** **Pokémon center****

Passing through the automatic sliding doors the inside is just as impressive even for a lobby. On the right rows of video phones line the walls with a few people in the mist of conversation. The comfortable looking seats line the large floor space leading down the centre of the room to the front desk. And even the front desk looks impressive, with 3 computers spaced across the desk and 4 large screens filling the wall space behind. One is set to the news, a weather forecast , 2 screens detailing who's Pokemon are currently being seen or are waiting for collection and the last listing the number of rooms available.

"Whoa!" Alfred can't help spinning around on the spot as he gawks at the center.

"Careful," Arthur jokes "your country boy-ness is showing." Arthur chuckles at Alfred's look of wonder.

"Dude! This place is amazing!"

"I take it that you've never been to a center before then?"

"Nah, it would take forever to go back and forth to the City to treat all the farm Pokemon so we have our own clinic on the farm, but nothing like this!"

"Well today'll be full of new experiences for you then." Alfred quietly follows behind Arthur up to the front desk to were 2 nurses are currently on duty.

"Hello, welcome to the Pokemon center. What can I do for you today?" The nurse asks kindly.

"Hello nurse Joy," Arthur says as he places his 3 pokeballs into one of the trays sitting on the desk and hands over his trainer card "can you give them a full health check?"

Alfred watches Arthur before he quickly places his own pokeball into another tray and fishes out his own trainer card to hand over.

"Same please."

"Of course." Nurse Joy answers, pressing a call button and scanning their cards. The door to the right of the front desk opens and a Chansey walks out. "Chansey, take these to the evaluation room and bring the first one into clinic 3 please." The nurse asks, handing the trays over to the Pokemon.

"Chansey!" The Pokemon cries happily, taking the trays it walks back through the door.

"Please feel free to wait while we give your Pokemon their health check. Your names will be displayed on the board above when their ready to be collected." She smiles at them, handing back their trainer cards.

"Thank you."

"Thanks."

"Is there anything else I can help you with today?"

"Yes." Arthur answers, looking over at Alfred. "My... friend here would like to register for the Pokemon league."

"Of course, trainer card or Pokédex please." Nurse Joy patiently asks.

"Oh." Alfred quickly hands his card back over.

Accepting the card, Nurse Joy this time slots it into the computer and begins quickly typing.

"Okay, let's see here." She says as she begins the registration process.

"Alfred F. Jones, 16, from Meadow Plains, trainer ID No. 724839, one Pokemon." After a few more quick taps the computer lets out a quiet bing. "And done, your now registered with the Eprus region Pokemon league."

"Sweet!" Alfred watches as the nurse opens a draw behind the desk and places 2 boxes down and puts his trainer card on top.

"Here you go." She says pushing the lot over to Alfred.

"Oh, What's this?" He asks as he takes the items, putting his card back in his pocket and opening the first sleek black cardboard box.

"As per league guidelines, all newly registered trainers are to be supplied with one badge case and one fully loaded Pokédex."

"A Pokédex? Really?!" Pulling the contents of the first box out he finds the badge case. Quickly switching to the red box, he pulls out the promise Pokédex.

"Awesome!"

"Just scan your trainer card into the dex to register as its owner." The nurse explains. Alfred quickly does as told pressing the on switch and scanning his card. The dex takes a moment before Alfred's trainer data is registered.

"This is so awesome! I thought I'd have to save up for months to buy one of these!" Alfred cheers as he looks through his new dex's features.

"The league guidelines were changed last year. Before, if you weren't given one by a working Pokémon professor to trial a new model, you would have to buy one. The champion decided that this gave a unfair advantage to others and petitioned the league chair body to change the rules to freely distribute Pokédexs to all registered trainers."

"I think I remember hearing about that." Arthur says with a thoughtful look. "There was a massive argument between the league and Silph Co.. As the main manufacturers of the dex, Silph Co. claimed they would lose too much money distributing them for free. In the end a deal was only struck as the champion had the backing of the elite four and the trainers guild."

"Yes, that's correct." Nurse Joy nods.

"Well, whatever! Politics, yada, yada! I have a Pokédex now and that's all that matters." Alfred really can't be bothered with all the ins and outs of companies and corporate business problems, he got something out of it so who cares?

"Well, thank you again, Nurse Joy."

"Yeah, thanks a bunch!"

"Of course."

Walking away from the desk Alfred plops down on one of the seats.

"So, how long do you think they'll be?" Arthur comes to stand over Alfred, making no move to sit.

"Awhile. Come on, don't just sit around, we still have a lot of things to do."

"Eh? Like what? I can't battle without Bouffy."

"Supply shopping. Now come on, up." Arthur punctuates his last word with a kick to Alfred's foot.

"Uurrgghh! Fine!" Al whines as he gets up and follows Arthur out the center.

Once outside Arthur turns to Alfred and asks "How much money do you have?"

"Uh, bit personal."

Arthur rolls his eyes "I'm not asking to know how rich you are, we need to know how much we can buy."

"Oh." Alfred flushes as he fishes about in his bag for his wallet. Catching a glimpse into Al's bag Arthur raises an eyebrow.

"Do you have any sort of coordination to your packing?"

"Nah, I just sorta throw stuff in."

"Yes, I can see that." After a bit more searching Alfred pulls his wallet out and looks inside.

"Uh, I've got about 1,820."

"Hmm, that's not a lot, added mine that gives us just under...8,000." Arthur's seems to contemplate what to do while Alfred tries not to feel to embarrassed about his lack of money.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do. You go find a pokemart and buy the medicine and I'll buy the food and anything else we need." At this Arthur pulls a list from his pocket to give to Alfred.

"Do you just carry lists of things you need with you all the time?" Looking the list over Alfred then adds "And I can afford all of this..."

Rolling his eyes Arthur pulls his wallet out and hands Alfred a few notes.

"I never said you would have to pay for all of it. We're travel partners, so as such, we share our supplies _and_ our money."

"Oh, yeah guess that makes sense." As Alfred takes the money and Arthur turns to leave.

"Buy as much of that list as you can, we'll meet back here in an hour." And with that Arthur disappears into the crowd.

"Um, sure..." Alfred looks around feeling a bit lost. When he entered the city he barely even noticed the crowds, too focused on the gym. Then he was focused on following Arthur around, now on his own he realises how busy this place is. ' _Okay, no big deal. Not like I haven't been in crowds before at festivals, I just need to find a pokemart._ '

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

That turns out to be easier said than done. Crowds at festivals are friendly places and people don't mined if you wonder about looking lost, here in a busy city, it seems people aren't so kind. Alfred found himself being shoved more than a few times by the crowds, but eventually he finds his way to a pokemart.

' _Alright let's see._ ' Looking at Arthur's list Al grabs a basket and heads down the isles.

20 minutes of shopping later and another 15 of getting lost on the way back, Alfred finds his way to the Pokemon center and sees Arthur sitting inside with several carrier bags. The contents spread out over the seats as Arthur begins sorting things into his own bag.

"Hey, Artie." Rather than the usually angry response Alfred is forced to dodge a small cardboard box.

"I got the stuff you asked for." He says, scooping up the box and dropping his own carrier bag down on the seats, moving to sit beside Arthur.

"Did you get all of it?"

"Most, had to leave some of the revives, too expensive to get everything."

"So what did you get?"

"5 Potions, 2 Super Potions, 1 Revive and 1 Full Heal all for the low, low price of 4,800. So what you get?"

"Food mostly, enough to do us at least a week."

"Cool." A bing rang out through the center and Alfred looked up to the boards, he glances at the news screen, now no longer the weather but ignores it as he sees their Pokémon are now done.

"Sweet they're finished!" Alfred happily goes to the front desk and collects their Pokémon as Arthur finishes up packing.

" _This, the third break-in within two weeks..._ " Alfred can hear from the T.V as he reaches the desk.

"Here you go, both yours and Arthur's Pokemon are fighting fit. Come again anytime."

" _...this, in line with the declining number of..._ "

Nurse Joy waves to them as they leave.

"Now to the gym!"

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** Mwhhahhaha! You thought you were getting a gym battle? Nope! You get to see the gym but you'll have to wait till next time to go in. Instead you get a Pokemon center and shopping. But hey, flashback and plot? For those who want to know what kind of champion Feliciano is, there's a bit of insight. And for those interested, I now have a map the region up on my tumblr, check it out and tell me what you think.

The review you guys leave make my day! Till next time, stay awesome!


	6. The first Gym

"Okay, this time for real." Alfred and Arthur stood at the gate entrance to the gym, one ready to enter and take on the challenge, the other curious to see how there partner would handle their first official gym battle.

Walking through the courtyard a second time is no less impressive than the first, the statues still stand tall and intimidating. While Alfred sets his sights on the door a head Arthur seems to be taking a greater interest in the architecture.

"So, __this__ is the Marcel gym? Well, it definitely shows it's a fighting type gym."

"It is?" Alfred turns to look at Arthur.

" _ _Obviously__ , if the statues of fists wasn't enough of a giveaway, the name sure is, trainer dojo? Fighting type is fairly obvious."

"Huh," turning back around Alfred regards the statues once more "yeah, guess so. In all the excitement I never really thought about what type of gym it was. But now that you say it, it is pretty obvious."

"Do you think you'll be able to handle it?"

"What'd you mean?" Alfred tilts his head at the question.

"Bouffy is a normal type, that puts you at a disadvantage against fighting types."

"No problem, Bouffy's __strong__ and we've handled fighting types before and come out on top. Trust me, we got this." Without waiting for a response Alfred heads on in.

"We'll see."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Inside the gym is rather barren compared to the grandeur of Pokemon center, even the pokemart looked more impressive than the empty hall they find themselves in.

"Wow, this place is kinda a let down."

"I'm not sure what you were expecting."

"I don't know, just something, __more,__ I guess."

"Well let's find the gym leader and get this challenge started shall we?"

"Sure." Heading further down into the hall they can see a number of rooms on either side. Most appear empty but in a few manikins and fighting equipment can be seen.

At the end of the hall the gym opens up onto a battle field with benches for spectators on one side and a large dark screen on the other, at the far side the only closed door can be seen.

"Well Alfred?"

"Huh?" Arthur shakes his head at Al's cluelessness.

"Make your challenge."

"But," Alfred looks around the empty battle field "there's no one here." Arthur rolls his eyes and sighs.

"Of course __not__ , gym leaders don't just stand about all day waiting for a challenger, but they'll be near by since the gym isn't closed. If your loud enough they'll hear you. That shouldn't be too hard for __you__."

"Well, alright then." ' _ _He better not be messing with me or I'm gonna look real stupid shouting at no one.__ ' **"** ** **I'VE COME TO CHALLENGE THE MARCEL GYM LEADER!**** "

"Ah, dear god man! I didn't think it was possible for a human to reach that decibel." Arthur grumble to himself some more about ears ringing, but Alfred stopped paying attention when the door at the end of the field opened.

"Ayia! So loud! Kids these days."

Out of the door a man dressed in maroon robes appears, he looks to be in his 30's but he could be older, Alfred can't really tell. The man looks over at the pair eyes widening at them, then, after a moment, he settles his gaze on Alfred.

"You the challenger?"

"Yup!" The man continues to give Al a judgmental stare before huffing.

"Fine, but you better not waste my time. How many gym badges do you have?"

"None, this'll be my first gym battle!"

"Definitely better not be wasting my time," switching his gaze to Arthur he asks "you here for a battle too?"

"Just watching." Arthur says as he heads for the benches off to the right of the field.

"Alright then." The man walks over to a chest by the end of the benches and opens it as he continues "Since you don't have any badges I'll use these two," closing the chest Alfred can see the man now has two pokeballs. "Yong Soo! Get your lazy ass out here!" The man shouts back into the room he came from.

A reply of "Coming teacher!" is heard clearly across the field as a teenage boy runs out to join the man.

"Ooohh! A new challenger!"

"Yes, now go do your job." The man shoos the boy out onto the field were he takes his place upon the referee block at the center of the right edge of the marked field. As he does this the man moves into the marked box for trainers on his side of the field.

"I am Wang Yao, leader of the Marcel City gym and trainer dojo. You, may call me Yao. I hear by accept your challenge, trainer."

"By official league guidelines, this will be a 2 on 2 battle." Yong Soo announces.

"Wait, two? But I only have one Pokemon."

"Urgh, then you are wasting my time! You must have 2 Pokemon or the battle cannot commence. Either get a second one, or leave!" Yao angrily complains.

' _ _Crap! Now what, I can't have come all this way and not battle! Oh! That's it!__ '

"Hey, Arthur! Let me borrow one of your Pokemon."

"What? No."

"Aw come on, please. I won't need to use 'em, just so I have two for the battle. Pleeeaaassseee."

"Wasting my time here!" Yao calls and Alfred is beginning to really not like this gym leader.

Sighing Arthur gives in to Alfred's pleading.

"Fine. You can borrow Pumpkin, since your getting better around her." Arthur holds out his pokeball and Alfred bounds up to him and snatches up the ball.

"Thanks Art, your the best!"

"Oh, __god__ it just gets worse with you." Arthur moans as he holds his head in his hands. Returning to his designated spot Alfred turns back to Yao.

"Ready now!"

"Finally!" Yao sighs.

Alright, well as I was saying, this will be a 2 on 2 battle, no time limit. The battle ends when both of one persons Pokemon can no longer battle or a trainer forfeits. Understand?" Yong Soo asks.

"Yup, sounds good to me!"

Smiling as he picks up his flags Yong Soo calls out,

"Trainers ready? Begin," turning to Alfred he adds "Good luck!"

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Alright Bouffy, time to shine!" Alfred calls as he sends out his Pokemon.

"Booouuu!" Bouffalant cries, ready for battle.

"A normal type, really?" Yao shakes his head. "Riolu, time to fight!" He calls as he sends out his first Pokemon.

"Ri, ri!" The Riolu shouts, looking ready to punch something. Once both Pokemon are on the field the screen lights up, displaying their Pokémon and a health bar for each.

"Alright, Bouffy time to win our first gym badge. Let's show them what we can do! Horn Attack, go!"

"Boouuff!" The Pokemon cries out as he charges for the Riolu.

"Pah, Riolu, Bulk Up then Counter." Yao dismissively orders. The Riolu glows with power as it's Attack and Defense rise. As Bouffalant reaches the Riolu, he swings his head down for the Horn Attack and strikes the Riolu in its chest. But as the horn makes contact the Riolu grabs hold of it and uses the momentum of the attack to move up and over Bouffalant's head. Still holding onto the horn on the way down, the Riolu lifts Bouffy up and over it's head, smashing him into the ground with a powerful Counter.

"Boooou!"

"Bouffy!" Alfred looks up from his Pokemon to the screen, that one hit taking half of Bouffalant's health. "Bouffy can you get up?"

"B-Boouufff..." Bouffalant whines as he rises to his feet. "Boooooouuuufff!"

"Yeah, that's the spirit! We're not done yet."

"You're persistent, aren't you?" Yao asks.

"I'll show you persistence! Bouffy Lear!"

"Boo!" The Pokemon is quick to respond, lowering Riolu's Defense.

"Let's see just how far that persistence will get you. Riolu, Force Palm!" The Riolu nods before taking of in a fast run straight at Bouffalant.

"Bouffy Lear again!"

"Boou!" Bouffy complies, lowering Riolu's Defense a second time.

' _ _That's it get in nice and close.__ ' Just as the Riolu is about to reach his Pokemon Alfred calls out "Bouffy, Stomp now!" As if knowing what his trainer planned Bouffy takes almost no time to respond rearing up as the Riolu jumps forward for the attack, and brings it's hoof down on it's back.

"Riii!" The Riolu cries out is it is pinned under the weight of its opponent.

' _ _Interesting__ ,' Arthur thinks from his spot on the sidelines ' _ _that's the same tactic he used against that other trainer.'__

' _ _Hehe, we've got you now!__ ' "Bouffy! Horn Attack!"

"Foolish boy, you think you've got the upper hand? Hardly, Riolu! Force Palm!"

It all happened in an instant. As Bouffy brought his head down for a Horn Attack the Riolu, Without looking as it was pinned faced down, raised its hand up and placed it on Bouffalant's descending head. A moment of nothing, before the energy of the attack flowed out of its palm and into Bouffy's head, sending Bouffalant flying backwards and freeing the Riolu. With a crash Bouffy rolled across the field away from the Riolu, defeated.

"Bouffalant can no longer battle, Riolu wins!" Yong Soo calls out and Alfred is left to stare at his defeated partner.

"Wha- B-bouffy..."

"What will you do now?" Yao asks as Alfred mechanically raises his pokeball and recalls Bouffalant. "Try to win with another's Pokemon? Will you treat them as recklessly as you treat your own?" Alfred looks away, he knows the answer but doesn't want to say it, saying it means accepting his defeat.

"Alfred?" Arthur asks from the side. ' _ _Damn it, Artie! I know!__ ' Sighing in defeat Alfred quietly says "I... I forfeit the match." Alfred expects more ridicule from Yao about wasting his time but is surprised when none comes. Instead Yao walks across the field and looks down at Al, smiling slightly.

"Good."

"I lost." He says dejectedly.

"No, you knew when to quit, that is not losing." Alfred looks up surprised.

"But, I didn't win."

"No, but you did not lose either. Your a smart trainer, by far the best challenger I've had in a long while."

"Really?"

"Yes, now go away."

"Wha?"

"Go, and get better, get another Pokémon for your team then come back and challenge me again when your ready." Smiling widely Alfred nods quickly.

"Yeah! Come on Art! First we need to go to the Pokemon center but then, I'm gonna get me a new Pokemon!" And with that Alfred charges out the gym only pause in to shout "I'll be back, so be ready!" Before disappearing.

Sighing Arthur stand and says "That boy, he can be such a child. Thank you for the battle." before turning to leave.

"Arthur." Yao says behind him and Arthur freezes on the spot. "Don't you think it's about time you went home?" Turning Arthur glares at Yao. "Ah, there's that look, the familial resemblance between you brothers is unmistakable." Raising his head Arthur says "I don't know what you **__**think**__** you know, but I have no desire to go back home anytime soon." Yao just chuckles at that.

"You Kirkland's are all the same."

" _ _Goodbye__ , **__**Yao**__**." Arthur bites out as he turns to leave. Just as he's almost out of ear shot he hears Yao call "Say hello to you brothers for me!" And Arthur grinds his teeth as he hears laughter follow him out.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

 _..._

 _..._

 _...CLICK._

 _"Any luck?"_

 _"Tsk, no. Damn thing must have moved on."_

 _"Shame, that one would have been useful. Alright then, we're moving you on to target No.6 in sector D. And_ try _to actually be of some_ use _this time won't you? We wouldn't want to make the Boss_ angry _now, would we?"_

 _"Che, sure, whatever."_

 _..._

 _..._

 _...CLICK._

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** And there you have it folks, the first gym battle. Show of hand, who thought Alfred would have won? And now we're really setting the ball rolling, Yao knows Arthur? Or more specifically he knows his brothers. Hmmmmm I wonder, do I smell plot? Do you? Things are starting to come together these last few chapters. But for now Alfred's world is sunny and bright. Next stop, time to add a new Pokemon to the team. Free scones to the one who can guess what it'll be.

Reviews are nice, so maybe? Till next time stay awesome!


	7. A night at the Pokémon center

"What took you so long?" Alfred questions outside the gym gates.

"Yao wanted to wish you luck but you ran out before he could say anything. He asked me to pass that along to you."

"Oh, well, remind me to thank him when I see him again. Come on, next stop, The Pokemon center! Bouffy could do with the TLC."

"Right."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Hello again, did you win?" Nurse Joy asks when she sees the pair walking up to the front desk.

"Nah, But I'll get him next time! But could you take care of Bouffy for me?"

"Of course." The nurse rings for the center Pokemon as Alfred repeats the process from earlier.

"Au-audino?" The Pokemon questions as it arrives.

"Hey, that's an Audino right?" Alfred asks as he watches the Pokemon take the tray for Nurse Joy.

"Take this into clinic 2 please," She says before turning her attention back to Alfred. "Yes, the center has a number of working Pokémon involved in the care of others."

"Cool, this is the first time I've seen one in person!"

"Please feel free to wait while we give your Pokemon the best possible care."

"Thanks."

"Actually," Arthur cuts in "we would like to book a room for the night, if that's possible."

"Not a problem. Let's see here." As Nurse Joy begins tapping away at her computer Alfred looks at over to Arthur questioningly.

"It's getting late, so we might as well stay the night here rather than camping out. We can leave first thing in the morning, then you'll have all day to look for pokemon to catch." Arthur reasons.

"Yeah, guess your right. Oh! I almost forgot, here's Pumpkaboo back." Alfred suddenly remembers as he hands back over the pokeball.

"I was beginning to wonder if you would remember." Arthur smirks as he takes the ball back.

"Okay, we have a double room available of the fourth floor, if that's okay?"

"Yes, that's fine." Arthur answers for them.

"Okay, let me just book you in, cards please." The cards are quickly exchanged and swiped in and returned. "Okay, your room 423, here's your room key."

Nurse Joy adds as she hands over a red and white card key.

"Thank you."

"Thanks! Alright let's go check out our room!"

"The elevator and stairs are just behind the video phones. Have a nice stay." Nurse Joy smiles as they head for their room.

"Wow! This is amazing!" Alfred gawks at the room the moment they step inside. Arthur pushes past him to make his way over to the bed on the right.

"You really haven't been to a city center before have you? This is basic accommodation for centers as big as this." Arthur comments off handedly as he sets his bag down by the bed. Alfred really wonders on what he's been missing out on all this time as he takes in the room.

Two semi large single beds are pushed up against the wall on either side of the room. A large window is in the centre of the far wall between the beds, giving a perfect view of the city outside. The carpet is soft and Alfred suddenly feels bad tracking dirt in on his shoes. At the foot of the right bed is a oak desk and comfortable looking chair, while on the wall beside the door a large T.V screen sits mounted on the wall. Overall the room is sleek, clean, bright and all to inviting. As Arthur moves over to the desk Alfred walks to the second bed on the left and drops his bag to the floor before sitting down. The bed is just as soft and comfortable as it looks, and Alfred can't help but flop back. He closes his eyes and let's out a sigh, relishing the feel of a real bed after a week of camping in a _ _very__ thin sleeping bag. He opens them again when sound fills the room, turning his head he can see Arthur with a remote, flicking through the T.V channels.

"Anything good on?" Al asks as he sits up.

"Just the usual that Pokemon centers get, news and the first 5 poké stations, nothing too exciting." Arthur says as he flicks the T.V over to a screen showing the status of Bouffalant. "And the notifications page for any Pokemon you have down stairs." He explains at Alfred's puzzled look. The remote lands next to Alfred on the bed as he looks back to the screen.

"Pick whatever you want." He says as he makes for the door.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"To the dining hall, it's on the second floor. I feel like grabbing some dinner and I also need to let my Pokemon out and feed them too."

"Wait, I'll come with you!" Alfred says as he quickly stands.

"Are you sure? Last time you fainted when I let them all out at once." Alfred looks unsure for a second before he nods his head firmly.

"That was 'cause I wasn't expecting it! Besides, I'll never learn to get over my fears by hiding away every time you plan on bringing them out. It's like you said before, it's not fair on the Pokemon that you have to plan letting them out around me." Arthur looks taken aback by this before smiling slightly.

"Seems that battle did some good for you after all." He jokes lightly.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

The dining hall is packed when they arrive. It's early evening and many trainers, both those staying at the center and passing through, have all come in for the free center food.

"Go find a table, I'll get the food."

"Okay." Alfred agrees and turns to search for an available table, it takes a bit of searching but he finally finds one near the far right wall of the hall.

A few minutes later Arthur arrives, carrying two trays, one with two plates of human food, the other stacked with three full bowls of Pokemon food. Alfred quickly stands and takes the human food tray of Arthur's hands and places it on the table as Arthur sets the bowls down on the floor by the tables edge.

Once seated Arthur pulls his 3 pokeballs out and places them on the table.

"Ready?" He asks.

"Go for it." Al replies as confidently as he can.

"Remember, just try to stay calm. They won't hurt you."

"Okay."

"Alright, Pumpkin first." Arthur says this as he reaches for the normal pokeball releasing the Pokemon beside him.

"Pum, Pum?" She questions once out and sees Alfred sitting across from her trainer.

"It's alright dear." Arthur reassures his Pokemon as she floats by his head, keeping her distance, not wanting to scare Alfred.

"You alright?"

"Y-Yeah." Al nods, letting out a shaky breath.

"Okay, next Torch." Arthur says as he picks up the Dusk ball. Alfred distantly remembers wanting to ask about the different pokeballs, but is preoccupied desperately trying not to have a meltdown as the pokeball opens and a Lampent appears.

"La! Lam- ent!" The Pokemon cries as soon as it's out, diving behind Arthur. Sighing Arthur twists in his seat to look at the cowering Pokemon.

"Come on, Torch, it's fine." He tries to reassure as the Pokemon continues to hide, pulling Arthur's cloak over itself. Alfred blinks at that, fear momentarily forgotten.

"What's with it?" He asks tilting his head to try and get a better look.

"Torch here is a bit skittish. Large crowds like in here scare him, plus you fainting on him the other day didn't help." Arthur says as he frowns at Al.

"I didn't mean to scare him." Al mumbles. Arthur shakes his head an picks up the last pokeball, a sleek black and gold ball.

"Hey, is that a Luxury ball?"

"Yes, now here's the last one, Casper. Just, try to stay calm."

"Okay." Al says as he swallows, watching the ball open and reveal the Misdreavus.

"Missss, misdreavvvus." It snickers at seeing Alfred again. Al finds himself torn between giving into his crippling fear he can feel creeping up his body, every instinct of his screaming at his to run, get as far a way as possible. Or feeling oddly insulted at the laughing Pokémon. He decides that feeling insulted is better than giving into running away.

"H-hey!" Al cries as indignantly as he can, choosing to ignore his stutter.

"W-what 're y-you la-aughing at?!"

"Misdre, misdre!" It continues to snicker.

"A-arthuuur!" Alfred whines, hoping for him to help out.

"Ignore him Al, Casper's just messing with you. Now you three behave and eat your food, go." Arthur shoos his Pokemon towards the bowls, which Alfred now notices he had set as far away from him as possible. In fact if he sits back a bit he can't even see them for the table. Letting out another shaky breath Al turns his attention to his own food. But as he eats he can't help but watch the display going on at the other end of the table.

Arthur has already turned away from his Pokemon, eating his own food. But behind him things aren't so calm. Torch is still trying to hide under Arthur's cloak, something else Alfred keeps meaning to ask about, while Pumpkin somehow rolls her eyes and floats down.

"Pummm, ka." Grabbing hold of Torch by the arm, she tugs him out from his hiding place and drags him down to the food, placing him in front of the middle bowl.

"Lam! Lam, pe!" The Pokemon protests at being moved out of hiding.

"Pum, pump-ki!" Pumpkaboo grumbles, floating in front of Lampent and pointing at the food.

"La..." Torch somehow looks teary eyed as he looks back up at Arthur before setting down to eat. Meanwhile through the whole scene Misdreavus happily circles above the pair still snickering.

"Missss, missssdree." Seeming happy that Lampent is now eating Pumpkaboo floats up and smacks Casper on the back of the head.

"Pum, Pum!" It frowns at Casper, pointing to the bowl on Lampent's right. Still laughing, Misdreavus drops down to the bowl and begins to eat. Now satisfied Pumpkin moves down to the last bowl, letting out a quiet sigh as she begins to eat. Looking over the table edge at the trio and back to Arthur, Alfred isn't sure what to say to the display.

Arthur must be some sort of mind reader as he smirks at Al and tells him.

"That's normal for then."

"Oh." Come to think of it, Alfred has always been so afraid of ghosts that he's never really stopped to consider them as, well, Pokemon. Which is silly now that he thinks about it. For as long as he can remember he's seen them as some sort of big scary monster that'll steal you away in the night, something that you can't stop and can't fight. But seeing them like this, he's beginning to realise their just like any other Pokemon. Maybe it wasn't too far fetched of him to think he can get over his fear, maybe he can really do this!

Or so he thought until a Duskull suddenly appeared right in front of his face.

"Nnaaahahaa!" Al screams and curls up into a ball.

"Skull?" The Pokemon questions as it floats closer.

"Oh, dear." Arthur sighs at seeing Alfred break down again.

"Mmmmmhhh." Alfred desperately tries to muffle his cries as he preys the Pokemon will go away. Somewhere above him he can here Arthur talking to someone.

"What's up with him?"

"Sorry about him, he's a little afraid of ghosts."

"But, you have ghost Pokemon right here."

"Yes, trying to get him used to them. Do you mind moving your Duskull? I'm afraid he'll pass out again if it get's any closer."

"Oh, sure. Come on Blake, let's try finding another table."

"Dus? Duskull..."

"Al? It's alright now, they left." Arthur tries to coax him out of his fear full position. "Come on now, you we're doing so well. Ah, Torch! Come now, not you too..." Alfred can hear Arthur sigh as he continues to shake. At the mention of Lampent's antics Al thinks he can imagine the Pokemon trying to hide again. Curious to see for himself, he slowly uncurls and looks up. Sure enough, he can just barely see the ghost Pokemon hiding behind it's trainer. Despite himself Alfred can't help but laugh, who'd have thought it? A ghost Pokemon scared? Of him, of others? It's suddenly to much and Al bursts out laughing.

"Hahahaha! A-a scared ghost! Hahahaha!" Arthur doesn't look to pleased at that but Alfred finds a strange sense of comraderie with Casper as he once again starts snickering along with Alfred's laughter.

"Missss! Mis, mis!"

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Dinner over, once back at their room Alfred checks to see Bouffy's status.

"Oh, Hey, Bouffy's all done. I'm gonna run down and get him."

"Alright." Once he returns to the room he finds Arthur wearing Rapidash patterned pyjamas.

"Pfff, nice PJ's." Al laughs. Up until now Alfred had never seen Arthur's sleep wear as he always changed in his tent. Flushing slightly Arthur turns away and climbs into bed.

"Shut it!" He snaps as he gets settled.

"Alright, alright, I was just messing with you." Changing, Al climbs into his own bed.

"G'night."

"Good night." They bid each other before drifting of into dreamland.

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** Transitional chapter is transitional but you get to see Arthur's Pokemon. Pumpkin is quite motherly to the others and helps keep them in line. Torch is easily frightened by just about anything and Casper is a little prankster, always messing with anyone and everyone.

special shout out to **Cone of Depression** for always leaving a review, they make me so happy!

Review please? Till next time, stay awesome!


	8. Welcome to the team

Alright, let's go!" The pair stood outside the Pokemon center. It was early morning, the sun only just lighting up the sky.

"Hold on."

"Urgh, What __now__?" Alfred whined. He couldn't take all this stopping and starting, can't Arthur just let him do what __he__ wants for a change without micromanaging everything?

" I shouldn't have to ask but, __please__ tell me you have some pokeballs? Or do you plan on catching a Pokemon with your hands?"

"Ha!" Al laughs, opening his bag to show Arthur it's contents "That's one thing I __did__ bring when I left home see?"

True enough, at the bottom of the bag, under piles of clothes, a box of cookies and other odds and ends Arthur can just about see the red of pokeballs, shrunk down to there carrier size.

"What do you know, I guess your not the complete idiot I was beginning to think you were."

"Thanks!"

"Alright in that case, where do you want to go? Have you thought about what kind of Pokémon you want to catch?"

"Eh, I don't really care. But whatever it'll be I know it'll be awesome!"

"Well am sure there are plenty of wild city Pokemon you could try to catch if we look about."

"Nah, let's leave the city, you may be okay here but my farm boy heart is craving some open air, stat!"

Arthur chuckles at that "Yes, okay but you still need to decide where to go."

"Uh, let's see." Alfred fishes his map back out of his bag to look over.

"Why are you still using that? You do know your Pokédex has a map built into it, right?"

"Really?" Switching the paper map for the dex Alfred messes about with the settings for a bit before Arthur gets annoyed and takes it from him. With a single button press he brings up the map.

"Here, see this is where we are," Arthur zooms the map in on Marcel City, "and this is where we came from." He says as he moves the map up to show route 2 and the Dark Woods. "If you want to leave, then we can take either Route 2 back to the Dark Woods or Route 19 down to the Vail Rock mountains."

"Definitely not the woods, I don't think I'm ready to be around that many ghosts again."

"Route 19 it is then." Arthur says as he starts heading off, handing Al back the dex. "And I'll have my cleanse tag back now. You won't need it if your actually __looking__ for Pokémon to run into." Alfred pulls the tag from his pocket and hands it back as asked, following after his travel partner.

"I don't get it. How come you're so much better at all of this than me? You know where to find the Pokémon center, what supplies to buy, how to challenge a __gym__ , you even know how to work the Pokédex better than me! I mean what gives? Did you read some sort of manual or something?" Al questions as they walk.

"Well, I am older, so of course I would know more than you." Arthur smugly says, preening from the praise. "That, and I'm not an idiot."

"Hey! Come on, there's gotta be more to it than that. There's something your not telling me isn't there?" Al asks suspiciously.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Arthur casually replies.

Alfred narrows his eyes at his travel companion "There is. And I'm gonna find out what." He promises.

"You do that."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Once outside the city Alfred spreads his arms wide and takes a deep breath of the clean air.

"Man, this is so much better than any city."

"It is nice, I'll admit, but I still prefer to be near at least some form of civilisation." Arthur comments from his side.

Al smiles wide, "Yeah, but in a city I can't let Bouffy out much, but I can here!" as he releases his Pokemon.

"Bouff!" It cries, and much like it's trainer, shows it's delight at being out in the open by running in a circle around the pair.

"Hm, well if your letting Bouffy out, then nows the perfect time for you to get better around ghost types. Don't worry," Arthur says as Al stares at him a bit fearfully "I'll just let the one out for now and switch between them every once and a while."

"O-okay." Al nods, one should be fine. He's still a bit jumpy around the idea but he thinks he's getting better. But this'll be the longest he's been around them if Arthur plans to let them out for most of the day. Conditioning him to their presence, that's what Arthur said he would do to help him and so far Al thinks it's working. He's drawn out of his musings by Arthur releasing his Pokemon.

"La?" Lampent asks looking around.

"Huh, I would have thought you'd let Pumpkaboo out first."

"You're getting better around her but you also need to be around different ghost Pokemon or you'll only ever be fine around Pumpkin." Arthur explains smiling slightly at his Pokemon. "Beside, there's no one around so Torch should be much more relaxed."

Looking over at the ghost Pokemon, Alfred can't help but agree. Lampent is no longer cowering behind his trainer but floating happily out ahead viewing the grassy field. In the near distance Alfred can see the mountain range up ahead.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"So, question." Arthur says some time into walking. "You've never seen an Audino before but you weren't surprised by Yao's Riolu?"

"Nah, I mean I haven't seen every Pokemon, who has?" Al jokes as Arthur nods in agreement, "But like I said before, I've been to a few festivals so I've seen a lot. I saw a Riolu for the first time last year at our farms harvest festival."

"I see- Wait!" Arthur suddenly stops.

"What?"

"Over there, there's a Paras sitting on that rock, see?" Arthur points into the grass a few feet on front of them. Following his line of sight, Alfred sees the Pokemon, asleep and soaking up the earlier morning rays.

"Alright, time to catch me a Paras! Bouffy, go stomp that Paras!

"Boo!" Obeying, Bouffalant heads into the grass and rears up to stomp the sleeping Pokémon. Or so it seemed, for as soon as Bouffy begins to attack it jumps up and releases its spores, instantly putting Bouffy to sleep.

"Parassssss!" It hisses as it runs off.

"Aww." Al cries as the Pokemon disappears, going over to Bouffy's side. "Bouffy?"

"Well that was a valiant first attempt." Arthur comments as he comes over to the pair.

"Yeah But now Bouffy won't wake up."

"Here, feed him this." Arthur says as he hands Al a berry.

"It's a Chesto berry, it'll wake him up." He explains.

"Okay, here you go Bouffy eat up." Al says as he opens his Pokemon's mouth and pushes the berry in. The effect is instantaneous, Bouffalant awakes as soon as the berry enters its mouth.

"Good, now that that's sorted, let's keep going shall we?"

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Several hours later, and numerous failed attempts at catching a number of different grassland Pokemon, they reach the base of the mountains.

"Maybe grass type Pokémon aren't your thing." Arthur had joked along the way after Al's third failed attempt in a row to catch a grass type Pokémon. "Maybe you'll have more luck with the rock types here." He says as they arrive at the foot of the mountain range.

"Maybe." Alfred had long since recalled Bouffy, wanting to conserve his Pokemon's energy for battling. Arthur had since switched his Pokemon to Casper, the Misdreavus finding every failed attempt hilarious. This only served to make him more annoyed but at the same time strangely more comfortable with the ghost Pokemon, now almost expecting to hear its laughter.

Now they stood upon a rocky ridge a few meters above the mountain base, eyes pealed for any hiding Pokémon.

"There!" Alfred calls as he sees the rocky body of a Pokemon atop an outcropping. "Bouffy, Horn Attack!" He calls as he sends his partner out once more.

"Boouuff!" It cries as it charges for the rock Pokemon, landing a solid hit.

"Oooonnnniiiixxx!" The Pokemon grumbles as it uncurls and rises to its full height.

"Alfred you idiot! That's an Onix!" Arthur calls from behind.

"So it's big? I'm still gonna catch it! Bouffy!"

"Boo!" His Pokemon replies.

"Lear, then Rage!" Quick to comply, Bouffalant lowers the rock Pokemon's Defense then launches in to attack.

"Oooooonnnn!" The Onix, angry at being attacked, twists and grabs Bouffy with its tail, constricting it in a tight Bind. Bouffy struggles to free its self but to no avail.

"Bouffy!" Trapped, Bouffalant is helpless as Onix brings its tail down, smashing Bouffy into the rocks with a strong Slam.

"You __see__?! This is why you __don't__ piss off an __Onix__!" Arthur complains beside him. "There's know way you can catch it on your own. Casper, Psywave! Aim for it's head!" Arthur calls. As much as Alfred is annoyed by Arthur's lack of faith in his abilities he's glad for the assist.

Casper moves up into the air above the Onix.

"Mis! Dreavus!" It cries as it opens its mouth aiming waves of psychic energy down at the Onixs head.

"Ooooonnn!" It grumbles the attack only serving to annoy it further as it releases Bouffalant and forms a large boulder by its tail. Grabbing the rock it swings its tail, lunching it's Rock Throw straight at Misdreavus.

"Casper, dodge!" Arthur calls and, despite the battle, Misdreavus laughs as it descends out of the way, easily avoiding the projectile.

"Bouffy, Horn Attack!"

"Casper, Astonish!" The pair call at the same time both Pokemon quick to react. Casper as the fastest of the three is the first to attack.

"Mis, mis-dreeEE!" It cries, letting out waves of ghost power and sending chills down Alfred's spine as the first ghost type attack he's seen Arthur use. The attack hit's and the Onix flinches away from the cry. Bouffy seeing the opening, lands it's Horn Attack on the flinching Onix. Things are going well for the pair when something unexpected happens. Seemingly out of nowhere a rufflet appears. Coming from the direction the missed Rock Throw had landed, Arthur notes, as the bird Pokémon begins relentlessly pecking the Onix on the head, angry cries punctuating it's attack.

"Ruf! Ruff, Ru!" Obviously annoyed at being ganged up on the Onix let's out a low rumble.

"Oooonnn." Before turning and burrowing under ground. The sounds of digging becoming more distant the longer they stand about.

The shocked silence is broken by Casper's laughter, snickering at the poor Onix.

"Missss, missss."

"Bou?" Bouffalant voices it's surprise. Al and Arthur look to each other equally surprised and confused before looking back to the Rufflet. The bird had since landed and was now happily preening itself, looking mighty smug at having seen off the Onix, a rear feat for a flying type Pokémon.

"Artie?"

"Arthur!"

"I know what Pokémon I want." He says still looking up at the bird. "I'm gonna catch that bird, whatever it is."

"It's a Rufflet." Arthur offers to Al's lack of knowledge.

"Bouffy? Let's catch that Rufflet!" He call's to his Pokemon, gaining the birds attention in the process.

"Ru?"

"Bouffy Horn Att- Hey Wait!" Just as he is giving his order the Rufflet takes off into the air and starts to fly away. "Come back here!" Alfred gives chase, Bouffalant right by his side and Arthur following on behind, with the ever amused Casper casually floating along.

"Come __on__ , stop __already__!" Al calls after the bird but Rufflet shows no sign of listening. Just as they are about to reach the edge of the rocks he hears Arthur call out behind him.

" _ _Oh, enough of this!__ Casper, Mean Look!"

"Misss." The Pokemon answers as its eyes glow, the surrounding area quickly darkening to that of night, multiple eyes opening in all directions looking at Rufflet, before fading away back into day just as quickly.

As Rufflet tries to fly away the eyes return, blocking its path. Realising it's trapped the Pokemon turns to the pair and let's out an angry cry.

"Ruf! Ruff!"

"There," Arthur says as he rejoins Al's side. "No more running away. It's all yours." He waves as he steps back. Al looks over to the bird Pokemon, now perched on the edge of the rocks.

"Alright, Rufflet, I'm gonna catch you!" The Pokemon tilts it's head at this and hops down to the rocks on front of Alfred and Bouffalant. "Alright, here we go. Bouffy, Rage!"

"Boouu." Bouffy charges forward as the Rufflet turns to see it's attacker. It takes to the air before coming down to launch a Peck on it's attacker. Anticipating the move Bouffy takes the hit to the head, raising his Attack, and strikes back with the Rage. The Rufflet is sent backwards into the rocks and lands on the ground.

"Ru..."

"Alright, here goes!" Alfred shouts as he throws his pokeball at the downed bird. Hitting it's target, Rufflet is pulled inside and the ball drops to the ground, central light red and ball shaking. One... two... three... shakes and the ball stills, the red light fades and all is still.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Arthur chuckles, beside Alfred once more, at his shocked face.

"I... I did it?" He asks looking to Arthur then back to the still ball. Walking over slowly and picking it up, still not believing it.

"Hehe... Hahaha! Yes! Look Bouffy! Our first catch! I caught Rufflet!" Alfred cheers as the knowledge of his success sinks in. However his celebrating stops short as the ball bursts open and Rufflet comes out to sit upon the rocks and look around, seemingly completely unfazed.

"Wha? But, but I caught you!" Al cries looking to Arthur for help "Right?" Chuckling Arthur nods.

"Yes, you caught it."

"But then? How?"

"Pokemon can come out of their balls if they want. Seems Rufflet here is one for liking it's freedom."

"Freedom huh?" Al tilts his head at that, thinking.

"Well now that you have it, check out what the Pokédex has to say on it."

"Oh, right." Pulling the dex out and pointing the camera at Rufflet, Al reads the entry:

 _ _Rufflet, The eaglet Pokemo__ _ _n.__ _ _They will challenge anything, even strong opponents, without fear. They crush berries with their talons.__

"Check the entry for yours." Arthur advises and Alfred switches to the data sheet for his newly caught Pokémon and reads:

 _ _Rufflet, male.__

 _ _Ability: Sheer Force__

 _ _Known attacks: Lear, Peck, Fury Attack, Wing Attack.__

"So you're a boy huh? I think I'll call you Freedom, how about that? Or Ruffy?"

"Ru!" The Pokemon cries happily at both.

"Okay, both then," Al laughs, "welcome to the Team, Freedom!"

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** So there you have it, Alfred's new Pokemon, is a Rufflet. For those who don't know, Rufflet evolves into Braviary which is like, the most American pokemon there is, it's basically 'Murica eagle! So of course I had to give him one. As you can probably tell, I'm trying to keep the Pokemon each character has related in some way to them, that's not to say there won't be some that don't relate but for the most part they will.

And you get to see Arthur battling a bit. Honestly I think Misdreavus is becoming my fave to write. Casper is just so fun, nothing fazes him and everyone's fails are his amusement.

Till next time, stay awesome!


	9. Training! Wait, what's on TV?

"There, all done." Arthur says as he packs away the medicines, Casper and Ruffy both happily flying about above their trainers. After Rufflet's successful capture he had offered to treat Bouffalant and Rufflet's injuries from battle. Alfred readily agreed, allowing him to tend to the Pokemon while he watched. Alfred had never been the best at tending to wounds, that had always been Mattie's specialty and with the farms clinic, there was never much need to learn. But now that he's traveling, he's beginning to see just how much he relied on his home and now, here he is, relying on Arthur instead.

"Hey, un, Arthur?"

"Hmm?" He asks, finishing up repacking and turning to Alfred questioningly.

"Could you maybe, uh, teach me how to tend to Pokémon like that?" Arthur blinks at that, not expecting the request. "It's just so unfair! You know everything! I feel like I'm not learning anything from always relying on you like this." Al huffs, letting out his frustrations. He doesn't know if he should feel insulted or surprised when Arthur starts to laugh.

"Honestly Alfred, you can be so silly sometimes."

"Wha? But I'm serious here!" Arthur continues laughing as he tries to speak.

"I know, that's why it's so funny!" He gasps, getting a hold of his laughter and calms as he reassures his travel partner. "Your learning plenty Al, just look how far you've come in little over a week." He watches Al as he processes this. "Just take a look at yourself." Confused Alfred looks down at himself but can't see anything different.

"What? I don't look any different."

"No, idiot. I meant look at how you __are__ , right now." As Al still looked confused, Arthur rolled his eyes and sighs. "Alfred, who is beside me?"

"Uh, Casper, duh." Alfred's not sure where Arthur is going with this but decides to humour him.

"Yes, and what are you not doing that a weak ago you would be?" Arthur looks expectingly at him as Al finally realises what Arthur is getting at.

"Oh!"

"Finally." Arthur jokes as Al turns to stare at Casper. He's not scared, not even a little. He tries searching for a glimmer of fear but, nothing. He, Alfred F. Jones, is not __scared__ of a ghost Pokemon!

"Whaaa!" He can't help it, his mouth hangs open as he gawks. Casper turns to look at him and tilts it's head, before laughing at Al's face, Ruffy looking at it's trainer in confusion. Switching between Pokemon and trainer Alfred waves his hands and squeaks out unintelligible sounds at the pair. Rufflet seems to take this as an invitation to land on it's trainers head, finding it the perfect perch.

"Hehe, yes. So you finally noticed hmm?" Arthur looks quite pleased with Al's loss of his ability to function at the revelation.

Finally he gets himself under control enough to ask "How? What witchcraft is this? What did you do to me Artie?!"

"Arthur!" The man snaps reflexively, "and I didn't do anything, this is all you."

"But how? When?"

"Well, while I can't be certain, I do believe it was during the battle. You seemed to forget about your fear to fight along side Casper. Seems despite yourself, you've managed to bond a bit with Casper here. At least enough to not be scared with him around anymore. If you ask me, I'd say that's quite the improvement for just one week." Huh, now that he thinks about it, Arthur's right, he didn't care that Casper was a ghost type when they fought together, only focused on beating the Onix.

" yeah, guess your right."

"Don't worry so much, no one expects you to learn everything about being a trainer or traveling straight away, I know I don't. It may surprise you Alfred, but I wan't exactly an expert when I started out either."

"Really?" Honestly Alfred was beginning to think that Arthur had been born with all this knowledge that he seems to lack.

"Yes, really."

"Oh."

"But that's not to say there isn't still things you can't do right now to grow."

"Like what?"

"Like, say have a battle with Rufflet. You two need to be ready for your rematch." That's right! In all the excitement he forgot he still needs to train, Yao won't be so easy to beat with only just catching Ruffy, he needed to train. Looking to Misdreavus, Al knows who he want's to battle first.

"Hey Arthur, will you battle me with Casper?"

"Are you sure?" Arthur doesn't look too convinced by the idea though Al can't figure out why.

"Yup, I can get more used to Casper by battling him and train Freedom at the same time, two birds with one stone!"

"Well alright, if you're sure. Casper?" He asks turning to his Pokemon. The Misdreavus circles his head, seeming not to have a care in the world. "Heh, Okay then Alfred, we accept your challenge." Arthur says with a glint in his eyes.

"Sweet!"

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Ready Ruffy?" Al asks his Pokemon still atop his head. The pair stand across from Arthur and Casper, Misdreavus looping in the air happily out front waiting to begin.

"Ruff!" The bird cries as it flies down to the grass facing their opponents, ready to fight.

"Ready?" Al calls across the field.

"Whenever you are." Arthur calls back.

"Alright then we'll start! Freedom, Peck!"

"Ru!" Rufflet cries, flying up and heading straight for Casper.

"Ready Casper?"

"Mis." The Pokemon replies pausing in the air and watching as Rufflet approaches.

"Get 'em Ruffy!" Al calls encouragingly.

"Casper, dodge and use Psywave." Arthur calmly calls. At first it appears Misdreavus has ignored him, but just before Ruffy can land it's attack, Casper gracefully drops down and loops back up behind Rufflet.

"Misss!" It cries as it launches the Psywave, a direct hit.

"Ruuuu!" Rufflet cries as it's hit, dropping to the ground but catching its self before making contact and flies back up.

"Okay, then let's try a Wing Attack!" Al calls. Both trainers know they're limited in the moves they can use, ghost and normal type attacks are out of the question here. This battle won't be won by attack power, but rather by the trainers skill. Really this is a smart move to make for both of them, this battle will help to build the bond between them and their Pokémon. Whoever can understand their Pokémon best will win this.

And this time, it seems that accolade goes to Arthur.

"Casper, now!" He calls before Rufflet can even begin its attack. Alfred stares as one second Misdreavus is visible, the next gone.

"Wha?" Before Al can formulate a plan, Casper reappears directly above Rufflet.

"Missssdreeee!" It cries as it fires a massive Psywave straight down on Rufflet.

"Ruffy!"

"Ruuu..." The Pokemon cries as it's hit, the force strong enough to slam it into the ground below. Even if Al had been quick enough to react, there was no way they could have dodged, blocked from above like that. This time Ruffy doesn't get back up.

"Sorry, Al, but looks like we win this one." Arthur says looking quite pleased.

"Sorry Ruffy," Alfred apologised to his Pokemon as he picks it up.

"Here, let me." Arthur says as he sets to treating the bird.

"How did you do that?"

"Hmm?"

"You know, how'd Casper disappear like that?"

"Hehe, he's a ghost Al, they can do that. That's just a quirk of their type." He explains as he finishes up with Rufflet. Jumping back up into the air the Pokemon lets out a string of angry cries at Casper.

"Ru, ru, ruff!" Flapping its wings to punctuate its annoyance.

"Hehe, looks like someone doesn't like losing." Arthur chuckles at the birds antics, Casper joining in only serving to further annoy the bird Pokemon.

"Hehe, well that makes two of us. Don't worry Ruffy, we'll get them back, just you wait."

"We look forward to it." Arthur smiles.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Returning to the Pokemon center, Alfred trains both his Pokemon for the next three days, challenging numerous trainers to friendly matches and improving his skills. After a day of training Al returns to their room, Bouffy happily snug in his ball while Ruffy continues to use his head as a perch. When he reaches the door he can hear Arthur shouting profanities at the T.V.

"Uh, what's up?" He asks as he enters.

"Are you seeing this?!" He fumes waving the remote at the screen. Looking to the T.V Al can see a Pokemon contest is being shown.

"You watching a contest?"

"I would be if it weren't for that stupid frog always hogging the camera! It's a __Pokemon__ contest, not a fashion show!" Arthur continues to rage. Confused Al watches the show to try to understand what has his friend so riled up.

On screen a young man with shoulder length blond hair twirls on front of the camera, flourishing out a hand and bowing slightly, as he sends out his Pokemon from behind his back. Alfred doesn't really have an eye for fashion but even he can tell that the trainers clothes are definitely high end, he's pretty sure that that's a silk cape. Alfred now understands the nickname, as the man's Pokemon is a very well groomed Politoed.

" _ _Tarpaud, Water Sport into Bubble.__ " The man calls in a light accent. The Pokemon moves gracefully across the stage, spouting a spray of water high into the air across the whole area, before switching into launching the biggest bubbles Al has ever seen. The falling water glistens off of the bubbles giving the whole stage the look and feel of and underwater palace. The crowd cheer loudly, completely mesmerised by the simple yet utterly beautiful display. Even for a T.V screen Al can see why everyone is so in love. Everyone that is, apart from Arthur.

"Oh, come on!" He near screams at the T.V, arms waving. "That wasn't even any good!"

On screen the judges are giving there results. It's full marks.

"Noooo! No! You can't be serious!" Now he __is__ screaming. And Al watches with a strange sense of amusement at Arthur's unreasonable rage over the show.

" _ _Truly, Francis you and your Pokemon are once again the epitome of what it means to be a Pokemon Contest king.__ " The head judge says as the trainer Francis is crowned the winner of the Master contest. Now that he hears the name, Al thinks he can remember his mom talking about a contest king called Francis. Usually he would find an excuse to leave the room whenever she got like that, having no interest in the show, or his moms not so secret crush.

"Aaarrrggghhh!" Well, Arthur seems to have lost his mind, standing on his bed and stomping his feet like a child having a temper tantrum. Al decides to rescue the remote from the bed before it got broke and switched to the news.

"We're here at the sight of the Avsel ruins, where a recent string of break-ins to the restricted cave system has taken place. With me is Professor Sadık Adnan of Madora City University. Professor, tell us, why would anyone want to break into the caves?"

"Well a number of ancient artefacts are still being studied in the caves. It's possible that the crooks were hoping to steal something of value or they may have been after something specific. Sadly we may never know what they took as the caves and their contents are still being archived, if they took something that was yet to be recorded then we may never know."

"Thank you Professor. Who ever these criminals are, one thing is clear, today we may have lost an invaluable piece of history for both Avsel lake and the Eprus region as a whole. That's all the time we have for today, remember everyone please remain vigilant for these criminals. And now the weather..."

"More thefts?" Arthur asks, now having calmed and lying on his stomach, socked feet on his pillow and watching the T.V.

"Yeah, seams like it."

"Urgh, asses. They should be more respectful of the history of things." Arthur groans as he drops his head onto the sheets.

"Mmh." Al hums in agreement as he switches the screen off and lies back, Ruffy flying off his head to perch on the desk chair instead.

"I just hope they didn't get anything important." Arthur's muffled voice reaches him.

"Same."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

...

...

... _ _CLICK.__

 _"_ _ _Well?"__

 _"_ _ _We got it."__

 _"_ _ _Good."__

 _ _...__

 _ _...__

 _ _...CLICK.__

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** Some training before Al's rematch which Yao. And France joins the cast as a The returning Pokemon contest king. Of course I had to give him a frog Pokemon and what better one that a Politoed? Or as Francis says Tarpaud which is just the French name for the Pokemon. And hey is that plot I see?

For those interested I've drawn the dinner scene form chapter 7 on my tumblr.

Till next time, the rematch for the first badge!

Review are always nice, stay awesome everyone!


	10. Time for a rematch!

" ** **Yao! I'm baaaaack!**** " Alfred calls out across the gym, eagerly waiting for the Gym leader to show, Rufflet sitting on his head and taking in the gym.

"Ayia! You're still so __loud__!" Yao complained, coming out onto the field to meet his challenger once more. Yong Soo not far behind waves to the pair as he takes his position as referee. "So, you're ready to challenge me again?" Yao asks as he moves into position, noting the bird Pokemon with Alfred.

"Yup, just you wait. I'm gonna blow you away!" Alfred proclaims loudly. Behind him Arthur gives Yao a cold glare as he moves to sit and watch, Yao just smirks at him.

Al is oblivious to the tension between them as he lifts Ruffy off of him and turns him around to talk too.

"Alright Freedom, this'll be our first gym battle but I know you'll rock!"

"Ru!" The Pokemon cheers, pleased with the praise.

"Alright, two on two, no time limit, yada yada, you know the drill. Ready? Start!" Yong Soo calls without waiting for an answer.

"How many times do I have to tell you to do your job right!" Yao scolds before sighing and shaking his head. "Whatever, here's my first Pokemon." He continues as he tosses a ball into the air.

"Ty!" The Pokemon cries once out, fists raised in front of its body.

"Huh, not Riolu?" Al asks confused.

"It's my job a a gym leader to test you, it wouldn't be much of a test if I did the exact same as before now would it."

"Oh." Al says as he pulls his Pokédex out, pointing it at the Pokemon, he's never seen this one before.

" _ _Tyrogue, The scuffle Pokemo__ _ _n. It is always bursting with energy. When raising this Pokémon, the Trainer must establish and uphold various training methods.__ "

"A Tyrogue, huh? Cool! Alright Freedom, time to shine!" Al calls as he sends the bird out onto the field, the wall screen once again lighting up to display the health of the combatants. The Tyrogue bounces on its toes as it's eyes follow Rufflet's movements. "Ruffy, Peck, Go!" He adds, starting the battle.

"Tyrogue, Fake Out." Yao calls and the Pokemon moves with speed across the field, reaching Rufflet in a matter of seconds, clapping its hands right in front of the birds face. Surprised, Ruffy flinches back as the Tyrogue brings it's right leg up to deliver a blow to the stunned bird. Knocked back by the hit, Ruffy takes to the air to get away from it's grounded opponent, as the Tyrogue jumps back to create more distance between the two.

"Ruffy, get in close and use Fury Attack!" Al calls. ' _ _If we can just get past it's defences, then I know we can beat it.__ '

Complying with the command, Rufflet circles around the Tyrogue before dropping down to unleash a rapid succession of hits. With each hit the wall screen shows a steady decline in Tyrogue's health.

"Tyyyy..." The Pokemon cries as it is hit, covering its head with its arms to block the attacks.

"Tyrogue! Bulk up, now!" Yao shouts and the Pokemon obeys, glowing with power as like with the Riolu from before, it's Attack and Defense rise.

"Uh, quick Ruffy! Get away!" Al calls, knowing what Yao plans to do next. Backing off Rufflet flies back up into the air a safe distance away. If Alfred had looked, he would have seen Arthur nodding approvingly at the decision.

' _ _I'll admit, Alfred may not look it, but he's a very skilled trainer. To have learnt from his previous loss and build upon that the skills needed to win, that is the mark of a true trainer.__ ' Arthur confides within the safe confines of his mind.

"Smart," Yao unknowingly agrees with Arthur's thoughts, "so it seems you've learned to be more cautious in battle. Good. But will it be enough for you to win?" He asks before returning to the battle at hand. "Tyrogue, Mach Punch!"

"Tyyy!"

"Ruffy, dodge!" Al calls as the Tyrogue pulls its right arm back, fist shrouded in power, before jumping high into the air at Rufflet and punching. Rufflet spins to the left to dodge the attack but is clipped on the wing.

"Ruu!" It cries from the glancing blow.

"Ruffy, quick use Wing Attack! I know you can do it!" Al calls up to his Pokemon. Despite the previous hit, Rufflet is quick to take action. Both Pokemon and trainer in sync as they see the opening, Tyrogue cannot dodge in mid air.

"Ru, Rufflet!"

"Ty!" Descending at speed, wing glowing with power, Rufflet strikes the fighting Pokemon in the chest with a solid Wing Attack. The hit increasing Tyrogue's descent, causing the Pokemon to slam back into the ground. Looking to the screen Alfred happily watches as the Pokemon's health drops down to below half.

"Tyrogue, Bulk Up again!" Yao calls as his Pokemon struggles to its feet.

"Quick, Ruffy Wing Attack again!" Al cries hoping to hit before his opponent can get of another boost.

"T.. Tyrogue!" It cries stats increasing once more as Rufflet quickly descends for another attack.

"Now, use Endure and grab Rufflet!" Yao calls as the Pokemon nears. Just as he planned, Tyrogue glows as it takes to hit, health dropping down to red, and grabs hold of Rufflet by the wing.

"Mach Punch." He orders and his Pokemon launches the attack at point blank range.

"Ruuuuu!"

"Ruffy!" Al calls and hoping their training payed of adds "Peck!"

"Ru!" The bird replies as it's beak glows, striking the Tyrogue hard on the head.

"T-tyyy..." The fighting pokemon grunts as it collapses to the ground, releasing Rufflet.

"Tyrogue is no longer able to battle, Rufflet wins!" Yong Soo calls ending the first battle.

"Wha? Yes! Alright! Way to go Freedom!" Alfred cheers, celebrating the win.

"Not bad," Yao complements as he recalls his Pokemon. "But this battle is far from over. Now, how will you fair against this one?" He asks as he sends out his next Pokémon.

"Meeediii!" It cries once out.

"That's a Meditite, right?" Al asks as he uses his dex again to confirm his suspicions.

" _ _Meditite, The meditate Pokemon. Meditite heightens its inner energy through meditation.__ _ _It eats just one berry a day. By enduring hunger, its spirit is tempered and made sharper.__ "

"So what will you do now?" Yao asks as he puts the dex away. Looking to the screen Alfred can see Rufflet is just below half health.

"Freedom, return." He calls. Looking back Rufflet tilts its head before flying back to its trainers side. "You can have a rest, Bouffy'll take it from here. Bouffy time to shine!" Al says as he tosses his pokeball up sending his Bouffalant out to battle.

"Boouu!" It huffs, ready to fight.

"It may not be the Riolu from before but we won't let Yao win this time."

"Both trainers ready?" Yong Soo asks receiving nods from both he continues "Battle, start!"

"Bouffy, Lear!" Al calls, deciding to start on the defensive.

"Meditite, confusion." Yao calmly commands.

As Bouffalant fixes the Meditite with a Lear, lowering it's Defense, the Pokemon floats off the ground and stretches its arms out front, releasing psychic energy at its opponent.

"Booo!" Bouffalant cries as it's hit, shaking it's head to clear it from the attack.

"You got this Bouffy, Horn Attack!"

"Boouuu!" The Pokemon cries as it charges at it's opponent.

"Meditite, Bulk Up then Bide!" Yao calls to his Pokemon.

As Bouffy charges in for the attack, Meditite powers up the same as the Tyrogue before had. Just as Bouffalant reaches it the fighting type Pokémon switches into bide, tensing it's body and taking the hit as it's knocked back.

' _ _Crap, we gotta finish this before it can fight back!__ ' "Bouffy, your strongest Stomp, go!" Al calls hoping to end the battle quickly.

Obeying, Bouffalant brings it's entire weight down on the waiting pokemon in the most powerful Stomp it can muster. Looking to the screen Al sees that Meditite's health drops to the yellow but remains standing (or rather floating crossed legged).

"Now, Meditite." Yao says, confidence filling his voice.

"Bouffy, dodge!" Al calls but is not fast enough.

"Meeeeeddiiiii!" It calls as it stretches its limbs out releasing a wave of energy, twice as strong as the combinative power of both of Bouffalant's previous attacks. Unable to dodge the all encompassing attack, Bouffy is struck, reeling backwards but remains standing.

"Bouffy, Rage!" Al calls and his Pokemon complies.

"Meditite, Confusion again." The wave hits as Bouffy charges forwards, attack landing, but something is wrong. Bouffy shakes his head looking around and turns away from the Meditite.

"Bouffy? Oh, no." Al says as he realises what's happened, the Confusion has confused his Pokemon.

"Come on, Bouffy listen to my voice! Aim for the Meditite and use Rage!" Alfred hopes he can get through to his partner.

"I'm afraid that's not going to work," Yao says as he watches the confused Pokemon huff before charging at the wall.

"Ah! Bouffy no, not that way!" Al calls helpless but to watch, as his Pokemon runs head first into the wall causing damage to itself. "Bouffy, return!" He says as he recalls his Pokemon back into its ball.

"Smart, rather than continue to risk the confusion you chose to switch out." Yao nods approvingly as Alfred looks to Rufflet.

"Alright, Freedom looks like you're back up."

"Ru? Ruff!" It cheers at the chance to get back out.

"Ready? Start!" The call from the teen referee reinitiates the battle.

"Let's win this! Ruffy, Wing Attack!"

"Wait for the moment, then Force palm."

Diving down with renewed energy from the break, Rufflet's wing strikes the out stretched arms of the Meditite. Taking the hit, health dropping further, Meditite flattens it's hand on Rufflet's wing and releases the energy of the Force palm. Sending the Pokemon flying backwards.

"Ruuu..." Rufflet whines as it rolls across the field, health dropping into the red.

"Ruffy! Damn that was a strong hit."

"R-ruu..." It groans as it gets back up, spreading its wings out. "Ru,Rufflet ru!" It cries out to show it's still able to fight.

"Alright Ruffy!" Al cheers at his Pokemon's sprite. "Fly up and use Lear."

"Ru!" Doing as told Meditite's Defense is lowered again.

"Meditite, Confusion!"

"Meeeee!"

"Ruffy, Wing Attack!"

Both make their move, Rufflet diving down to strike as the psychic power is released. Spinning as before, Rufflet rotates out of harms way while maintaining speed and ready to land the hit.

"Dodge!" Yao calls and the Meditite pushes itself back away from the attack mere moments before contact. Quickly pulling up to avoid hitting the ground, Yao takes advantage of Rufflet's opening

"Confusion, now!"

Still pulling out of the dive and unable to dodge Rufflet is hit with the wave.

"Ruuu..." It cries as it falls to the ground.

"Rufflet is no longer able to battle, Meditite wins!" The teen calls from the side once more.

"Ruffy, no..." Alfred pleas, seeing his Pokemon defeated. Pulling his pokeball out Alfred recalls the bird. "Don't worry, I'll make sure we win this for all the hard work you did." With that he sends Bouffalant back out, no longer confused.

"Alright, Bouffy, Freedom did his best, but now it's down to us to win this."

"Booufff!"

"Ready? Start!" The call is given and battle recommences.

"Bouffy, Rage, go!"

"Bide!"

Once more the two are locked in combat, Meditite taking the hit, health dropping into the red.

"Let's finish this! Bouffy, Stomp!"

"Boooouuuu!" His Pokemon cries, attacking. Bouffalant's hoof comes down and the Meditite is pinned below, unmoving.

"Meditite is no longer able to battle, Bouffalant wins! The victory goes to the challenger!" Yong Soo shouts, all too happy from his position.

"Wha? We really..." Al gapes for a moment before jumping about in celebration, running up to hug Bouffalant. "We did it Bouffy! We beat the gym!"

"Booouuu!" His Pokemon cheers along side him, nudging Al with its head and huffing warm air in his face. Al turns around when he hears clapping, Yao has recalled his Pokemon and is smiling at him, clapping softly.

"Very well done, an excellent match." He says as he walks over to join Alfred in the middle of the field. "It has been a while since I've had such an exhilarating battle from a challenger."

"Thanks!"

"Now, as proof of your victory and recognition of your skills, I present you with the Strike Badge." Yao says as he waves to Yong Soo to come over, now carrying a carved wooden block. In the centre of the piece is a single badge. "It is yours."

"Sweet! Look Bouffy, our first badge! Arthur look!" Al cheers spinning to show his friend. Arthur nods as he comes over to join the group, sending a glare Yao's way.

"Congratulations, seems you might just be a decent trainer yet." He jokes.

"Hehe, yeah thanks, glad for the support."

"What is next for you?" Yao suddenly asks.

"Oh, uh, guess I haven't decided yet, the next gym I guess." Al answers a bit unsure of himself.

"Hmm, in that case may I recommend the Terra Gorge National Park? You may find many rare Pokémon living there to add to your team. And the gym leader there is quite the interesting person, I think you would get along with her quite well."

"Alright the National Park it is!" Al readily agrees.

Nodding Yao bids them good bye.

"May you have safe travels, young trainers." He says as both he and Yong Soo bow to the pair.

"Thanks, come on Artie let's go!"

"How many times?! It's Arthur!" Alfred recalls Bouffy, running out of the gym laughing, as Arthur chases after him.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"So," Yong Soo says once they're gone "he's really one of the Kirkland brothers?"

"Yes."

"Then what's he doing here?"

"You still have much to learn Yong Soo. Sometimes you have to do your own thing, even if that means going against the grain, to find out who you really are inside."

"Eh? I don't get it." The teen complains as his teacher smiles softly towards the door.

"Hehe, no I suppose you don't. Do not worry to much, I think the time is coming for the rebel son to return home soon."

"Whatever you say teach."

"Come, let us have some tea." The pair walk back inside together, a day well done.

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** *celebratory clapping* way to go Alfred, 1 down, 7 to go. And hey look, a full chapter of battling. And south Korea returns as Ref for the battle.

In other news, someone has decided to report this for being in the wrong category? I don't know, I'm new to this whole writing thing, I've put it in crossover now so hopefully it doesn't get taken down. That'd suck, but I'd just put it right back up again if it did. So if it disappears for a bit that'll be why.

Till next time, be more awesome than that person...


	11. Thoughts of the past

_"Now watch closely Artie."_

 _"Uh, huh." Arthur nods his head quickly, watching his older brother with rapt attention._

 _"Heh, Haunter, Shadow Punch."_

 _"Hauuun." Arthur watched as his brothers Pokemon destroyed the training dummy in one hit._

 _"Whoa!" He couldn't help but gasp, his brother was such a strong trainer, he couldn't wait till he was old enough to get his own Pokémon!_

 _"Very well done son." Their father says, coming into the training room before he turns to Arthur and frowns._

 _"Arthur, what have I told you about coming in here? Your not old enough." He says disapprovingly._

 _"But! I just want'd to watch Aly!" He protested._

 _"And Alistair, you should know better than to let him in, he could have gotten hurt."_

 _"Sorry Dad." His brother shrugs._

 _"Now come on Arthur, it's time for your lessons."_

 _"Yes, Dad." He says as he follows him out, dragging his feet._

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Arthur sits up in bed, awoken by the dream. The room is filled with darkness, the sun not yet risen. Looking over, he can see Alfred is still asleep, snoring loudly, Rufflet snuggled in beside him. Arthur sighs thinking of the dream, well, memory. ' _Why did I have to dream about_ then _?_ ' He questions his mind grumpily, frowning.

Huffing he climbs out of bed. ' _I need a walk._ ' Quietly he grabs his pokéballs and leaves the room. As he walks to the elevators his mind wanders as well.

' _How long has it been? Three, four? years since I ran away._ ' He shakes his head, entering the lift and pushing the button for the ground floor. ' _Ha, to think, he ran all the way to Hoenn, to get away from anywhere were someone might know him or his family name._ ' Quietly he exits the elevator and heads out the back of the Pokemon center.

' _Honestly, What had I been thinking? Leaving in the middle of the night with nothing but my bag and Pumpkin by my side._ ' Silently Arthur walks out onto the battle field behind the center.

' _It was a miracle I even managed to leave, damn Rhys for being himself.'_ He huffs at the memory of the night he left home.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

 _"Artie? What are you doing?" Arthur froze, hand on the handle of the open front door, turning to look at his brother._

 _"Nothing!" He says too quickly to be trusted. His brother looks him over, from the travel bag to the clothes he wore, and of course the pokeball clutched in his hand. All that along with catching him leaving the house in the dead of night, it was easy for his brother to tell what he was doing._

 _"Your leaving." It wasn't a question. Frowning and suddenly feeling angry for being stopped just as he was about to disappear, Arthur snaps at his brother._

 _"Yeah, so what? You gonna run and tell? Like all of you do?" He expects his brother to do just that, but instead he simply shakes his head. Looking at him with an unreadable expression, Rhys nods to the door._

 _"Go."_

 _"What?"_

 _"Go, quick, before Dad finds out. I was never here, I never saw you. As far as Dad needs to know, you left without anyone noticing." Taken aback by this Arthur stares. Even after Peter was born he was always the butt of the joke to his older brothers. Nothing he did was up to their level, always going off on his own, never following the path left out for him by their families ancestors. Honestly, Arthur's not sure what he wants to do with his life, but he's sure he'll never know staying here. If he leaves, goes on a journey, even if it's against his fathers ruling, he_ knows _he'll find out what it is he want's to really be._

 _Maybe that's why his brother is letting him go, maybe he thinks this too. Or maybe he just finally want's the problem child of the family gone, who knows._

 _"Thanks." He says instead and, without looking back, leaves._

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Thinking back, Arthur still doesn't know why his brother let him go. But then, that's Rhys for you, no one can ever tell what he's really thinking. Looking about, he sees the field is empty. Of course, it's still the middle of the night. He lets out a sigh as he pulls Pumpkaboo's pokeball from his pokeball belt.

' _"_ _I don't know what you_ ** _think_** _you know, but I have no desire to go back home anytime soon."_ ' That's what he said but that's not true, after all that's why he came back to Eprus, isn't it? ' _To come home._ ' Even just thinking it makes him tense with anxiety, the thought of seeing his family again, what will they say? His father will be furious with him for sure, his mother is probably worried sick. What about his brothers? Alistair, Reilley, Rhys, hell even Peter, what will they say if, or when he comes home?

Shaking his head Arthur looks forward. ' _I'm thinking about this too much again._ ' Taking a breath, he lowers his hand with the pokeball. Looking up into the night sky, he can just about see the stars past the light pollution of the city. Suddenly the ball in his hand opens and Pumpkaboo comes out.

"Puuu?" She questions tiredly, a look of concern filling her face.

"Sorry girl, did I wake you?"

"Pum." She says shaking her head. Floating up she looks into her trainers eyes and smiles at him.

"Heh, yeah you always know how I'm feeling." Shaking his head clear of all thoughts of home, Arthur looks across the empty field. "What do you say girl? Care to let of some steam?"

"Pum!" His Pokemon cries, suddenly filled with energy.

"Alright, Good. Pumpkin, Shadow Ball."

"Pum, Pum!" Quick as always, his Pokemon obeys, forming and launching the energy filled ball out across the field. The attack flies into the ground at the other end and explodes. Both trainer and Pokemon satisfied with the small dent the attack left behind.

"Alright, now Razor Leaf!"

"Pumpka!" Summoning a barrage of leaves, the Pokemon launches them forward with enough force to stir the wind and blow Arthur's hair about. The leaves leaving tiny impact craters across the field.

"Now, Flame Charge!"

"Pum! Pum ka!" Encasing herself in fire, Arthur watches as his partner speeds across the battle field, growing faster from the Speed boost of the attack.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

By the time they finish the sky is beginning to lighten, not quite sunrise, but light enough to see the damage to the field clearly. Pits and craters of various sizes and depths, litter the area, marking the previously smooth surface.

Both trainer and Pokemon are comfortably tired from the activity and Arthur can now feel his mind calmed of the previous turmoil that plagued him.

"Oops, hehe, guess we might have gone a bit over board." He says, surveying the damage to the field.

"Pum..." Pumpkaboo voices, sounding slightly guilty.

"Well, I think that's enough for today, don't you?"

"Pum!" She nods happily to her trainer.

"Alright, let's go back to the room."

"Pumpka."

Walking back inside one of the Nurses waves to him.

"Feeling better?" She asks as the pair come over.

"Uh, yeah, thanks." Arthur says a bit sheepishly, scratching his cheek.

"Hehe, don't worry. It's not the first time a trainer has needed to let of some steam at night."

"Ah."

"Don't worry about the field either, we have the center Pokemon to help maintain it."

"Oh, you have construction work Pokémon at this center too? I thought they were mostly just leased out to places that needed them from the training centers?"

"Usually, but we have a trained Pokémon specifically for the field out back, saves having to always hire one each time the field is damaged."

"Hm, makes sense." He nods in understanding, at least his little night time training won't cause the center any extra hassle then. "Well, I think I'll head back to bed for a few hours."

"Have a nice rest." Nodding once more he takes his leave back to the room.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Alfred is still asleep when he returns, none the wiser. Sighing Arthur climbs back into bed, Pumpkin joining him to snuggle up by his head. After all that he's not sure what he was so worried about. After all going back home is inevitable if he intends to stay with Alfred, and besides it's about time he did. Come what may, he's ready for it.

* * *

 **Authors notes:** Just a short chapter this time from Arthur's perspective were nothing really happens. And of course some good old back story-ish flashback-y stuff.

In other news, I intend to put out a new one shot for Halloween. It'll be a darker nation story feature the Magic trio as the central characters so stay tuned for that.

Till next time, stay awesome!


	12. Making friends along the way

Sun shining, both trainers stood outside the Pokemon center, checked out and ready to hit the road again.

"Let's see." Alfred says as he pulls up the map on his Pokédex. "Looks like it'll be faster if we head out east and take Route 3 and 4 up to Kansa Village then Route 6 onto the National Park." He says as he scrolls around the map.

"You just want to avoid the Dark Woods again." Arthur accuses him.

" _No_! ...Okay, yeah. But why go back the way we came when we can go somewhere we've never been yet."

"Fair enough, I suppose." Arthur agrees. Really he doesn't mind which path they take, both will get them to the same place after all.

"Alright! Route 3 it is!" Al cheers as he leads the way.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

The grassy plains outside Marcel city begin to give way to sprinklings of trees the further they travel. Out in the open once more, both trainers have let all their Pokémon out for a short break.

"I must say, your doing much better after this morning." Arthur remarks as he watches Alfred sit a short distance away from his ghost Pokemon.

"Hey! That wasn't my fault! Pumpkin wasn't out when I went to sleep, how was I to know she came out so she could sleep in bed with you?" He tries to defend himself, after his embarrassment of screaming the center awake when he saw Pumpkaboo in Arthur's bed the moment he woke up. True he's getting better, he never imagined he'd be able to sit with 3 ghost Pokemon without breaking down, but here he is. But he still need's a warning and time to prepare himself before seeing them.

"I told you, she felt lonely and wanted to snuggle." Arthur shrugs.

As a gentle breeze blows through the air, the pair can here a distant call growing closer.

"Hooop. Hooppiiiiip."

"Hey What's that?" Al asks, pointing to a group of objects drifting closer in the sky.

"Looks like a group of Hoppip."

"Really?" He asks as he pulls his dex out. Aiming the device at the group as they pass over head.

 _"_ _Hoppip, The cottonweed Pokemon._ _This Pokémon drifts and floats with the wind. Its body is so light, it must grip the ground firmly with its feet to keep from being blown away._ _"_

"Hop, oppip!" The Pokemon happily cries as they drift and spin through the air.

"They must be heading for the mountain to prepare for winter." Arthur remarks as Al flops back in the grass to watch them pass.

"Ru, ru!" Rufflet cries as he flies up to meet the group.

"Hop!" They cheer as they spin around the bird Pokemon.

"Misss." Casper laughs as he too, flies up to join the party in the sky.

"Lamp..." Torch however, is less enthusiastic about the passing group, diving behind Arthur's cloak to peek out at the Pokemon.

"Pum..." Pumpkin sighs from where she sits beside her trainer.

"Bou?" Bouffy questions looking up to the group, then over to the cowering Lampent, tilting his head questioningly.

"Hehe, _man_ this is why I like the outdoors so much more than the city. Just look at how free they are! Wish I could float in the breeze like them." Al sighs as he watches the group leave.

"Hmm, it does sound nice." Arthur agrees. "Come on, let's get moving. It'll be a few days before we reach the next town."

"Right!" Al says as he jumps to his feet.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Four days of walking, battling traveling trainers, training together and watching the local Pokémon -Alfred even tried to catch some to little success- they finally can see the next town up a head.

"Kansa Village, here we come!" Alfred cheers at the sight of the small town. Kansa Village, unlike Marcel city, is a mostly residential town. The village is home to those who like the quiet life, with only a small Pokemon center a few stores and a contest hall as the only non houses of the village. Of course, the village is quite used to traveling trainers passing through and know how to capitalise on it.

"Ooooh! Hey Artie, come look at this!" Alfred calls as he stops outside one of the towns small shops.

"Arthur, my name is Arthur! Stop calling me that!" He snaps, growing more frustrated each time Alfred calls him by the nickname. "And look at what?" He adds as he joins Al at the store front.

"This!" Al waves his hands at a poster plastered to the store window.

 **Poké week**

The poster reads, below this is a split image of a tag battle and a Pokemon contest.

 **Are you a Pokémon trainer? Coordinator? Both?**

 **Then this is the event for you!**

 **From Monday to Friday, Poké week brings trainers of all skills together for 5 days of incredible contest!**

 **Want to join in the fun?**

 **Sign up now at your local contest hall!**

"Huh."

"Doesn't it sound awesome?!" Alfred asks bouncing on his feet, Rufflet perched once more on his head. He can't help it, he's always been a sucker for festivals, and a battle tournament? Sign him up!

"Well, looks like it's good we got here when we did. The event starts tomorrow."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go sign up!" Arthur nods as he follows him to the towns contest hall. The halls not hard to find as it's easily the biggest building in the whole town. Passing through the front doors the pair can see more of the same poster plastered outside on the halls windows.

Bounding up to the front desk, Alfred happily addresses the receptionist.

"Sign me up for the event please!"

"Ru!" Rufflet cries in agreement.

"Hello..." She says, a bit taken aback by Alfred's enthusiasm. Quickly recovering she asks "Would you like to sign up for the contest or the tag battle tournament?"

"Tag battle?" He asks confused.

"Did you even _read_ the rules on the poster?" Arthur asks once he reaches the desk.

"Uh, no?" He says. He was so excited about the event he didn't look to see the rules for it, whoops. Arthur sighs at that. The receptionist smiles in understanding and explains to the pair, though mostly for Alfred's benefit.

"The Poké Week is a two staged event. A open Pokemon contest for coordinators is held in the morning and a tag battle tournament is held in the afternoon, free for any pair of trainers to enter. This way, a trainer can enter both events if they wish and neither clash. The contest is a one Pokemon open competition, perfect for beginners. The tournament is a tag battle of one Pokemon per trainer. So which would you like to sign up for?" She asks as she finishes explaining.

"The tag battle of course!"

"And will you be joining as his trainer partner?" She asks Arthur, before turning back to Al and adds "Or would you like to be paired up with another competitor?"

"You'll join with me Artie, won't you?" Al pleads.

"Arthur! Maybe if you actually _listen_ and stop calling me that ridiculous nickname I might." He huffs, crossing his arms.

"Okay, Okay, I'm just messing with you," Al laughs to try to diffuse the situation " _Arthur_ , will you join the tag battle with me, pleeeeeeaaasssseee?"

" _Oh_ , Fine!" He throws his arms up in the air, tired of Alfred's pleading.

"Yes!" He cheers. "Okay, sign us up for the tag battle!"

"Alright, I just need your trainer cards and the name of the Pokemon your going to use." Handing over their cards, Alfred considers this.

"I think I'll use Freedom here." He says pointing to the bird Pokemon on his head.

"Ru, Rufflet!" It cheers at being picked.

"Arthur?" Al turns to his friend. Arthur looks like he's thinking about it before he surprises Alfred with his choice.

"In that case, I'll be using Torch, my Lampent." He tells the receptionist.

"Torch? But ain't he afraid of like, _everything_? How's he gonna battle if he's constantly cowering behind you?"

"Heh, you'll see." Arthur says, smirking that knowing look of his.

"Alright your all signed up, here's your cards back and your entry passes." The receptionist says as she hands the items over.

"Thanks."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

After a quick look around the town, the pair head to the Pokemon center.

"Hello, Nurse Joy." Arthur greets as they enter. Unlike Marcel city's center, this one is a small two story building.

"Hello, How can I help you trainers today." She smiles as they enter.

"A full health check up for our Pokemon, and a room for the night if you have any spare." Arthur asks.

"I'll have your Pokemon seen to right away. Blissey, could you take care of these please." She asks as the Pokemon comes through from behind the front desk.

"Blii." It nods heading of to do it's job.

"As for a room, we're all booked up for the week I'm afraid. If you want to stay, you'll have to share a room with a pair of trainers already here."

"That's fine, right Arthur?"

"Yes, that's fine with us."

"Alright then, room 218 is yours." She says handing over a room key.

"Thank you."

"Thanks Nurse Joy!"

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

It doesn't take long to find the room, it's other occupants already inside.

"Ah, Hello." Arthur greets as he opens the door and the pair look up.

"Hey, there!" Alfred waves, friendliness filling his voice.

"Oh hey." The blonde mumbles, moving to try to hide himself behind the rooms other occupant.

"Ah, Hello." The brunette says looking up from his place on the bottom bunk bed. The room is small, with only enough space for two bunk beds to fit pressed up against each wall, a small desk sits beside the door.

"Sorry about the intrusion, but this was the only room available." Arthur explains as he moves over to the unoccupied side of the room.

"Oh, no, that's fine!" The brunette rushes to say, standing and offering his hand. "I'm Toris, and this is Feliks. Don't mind him, he's just shy around strangers." Toris explains as he introduces himself. Taking the offered hand Arthur shakes it as he returns the greeting.

"Arthur, and this idiot here is Alfred, feel free to ignore anything he says."

"Hey!"

"Hehe." Feliks snickers at Al's affronted look.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

As they get settled into the room the four quickly get to know each other, Feliks relaxing back to his usual self soon enough. The pair learn that Toris is 18 and Feliks is 17, both working to become top Pokemon coordinators together. The Pair have come here to take part in the open contest to test out their newest routines before heading to the next main contest. Feliks laments his woes of loosing his first ribbon to Toris.

"I was soooo close to! Like, you should have seen it!" He cries as Toris laughs.

"It was a close contest." He agrees, showing the pair his blue ribbon from the contest in Dream Dew town.

"So what Pokemon are you guys going to use?" Al asks, this is the most enthralled he's ever been about contests, who knew they could sound so exciting.

"I'm a use this cutie!" Feliks says as he proudly waves around a pink heal ball. The ball opens, revealing the Pokemon.

"Cu?" It questions as it buzzes about in the air, curiously looking over the new people in the room.

"Cutie is the best!" He proclaims, petting the tiny bug Pokemon.

"Cool." Al says as he pulls his dex out to learn about the Pokemon.

" _Cutiefly, The bee fly Pokémon._ _It feeds on the nectar and pollen of flowers._ _Myriads of Cutiefly flutter above the heads of people who have auras resembling those of flowers._ " The dex reads as the Pokemon circles above Feliks' head.

"As for me, I'll be using my Golett." Toris says, not letting the Pokemon out in the cramped space, which Alfred is suddenly thankful for.

"Wait, t-that's a ghost Pokemon i-isn't it?" He asks, trying and failing to not show any fear.

"Yes. Why, is something wrong?" Toris asks, looking concerned at Alfred's suddenly paling face.

"Nope!"

"He's scared of ghost types." Both Al and Arthur say at the same time.

"Oh."

"Yeah, they're kinda freaky sometimes." Feliks agrees with Al to try to make him feel better.

"I'm not _completely_ scared, at least, not anymore." He tries to defend himself.

"No, you are doing quite well with the others. Once you're completely comfortable around all three of them then we can work on you getting better around those you don't know." Arthur says, nodding to himself as he continues to plan out Alfred's gentle introduction to being fine around all ghost Pokemon.

"Oh, so you're trying to not me scared around them? That's just like Feliks was with bug types."

"Really?" Al asks looking to the bug Pokemon in the coordinators hands.

"Yeah, I couldn't stand to be anywhere near them, now, I'm, like, amazing with them."

"You see Al, there's hope for you yet." Arthur assures.

The four talk well into the night, sharing stories of past adventures from the coordinators, and Alfred regaling them with the tale of his first gym battle. Soon they must all bid good night to be ready for the events of the coming day. Dreams of success filling their unconscious minds, excited for the morrow.

* * *

 **Authors notes:** And onwards the boys go. Now for the next small arc, Tournaments and Contests! And more members join the cast, Poland and Lithuania say hi to everyone!

Stay tuned for the first day for the Poké week event!

Reviews feed the author, till next time, stay awesome!


	13. Time for a contest

Alfred is woken by the sounds of quiet talking and people moving about. In the small room, it's hard to go unnoticed, even by someone who sleeps as deeply as Alfred.

Lifting his head from the pillow, he turns to see Feliks pulling on his shirt below as Toris climbs down from the bunk across from him.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to wake you Alfred." He apologises once down.

Yawning, Al sits up and shakes his head.

"Naaah, it's fine." He assures as he too, climbs down, Rufflet waking and immediately moving onto his head.

"Hey, where's Arthur?" He asks as he sees the bunk below his is empty.

"He left, like, a while ago. Think he said something about getting food." Feliks shrugs as he sorts his bag.

"Oh."

"We didn't want to wake you up, since the tournament isn't till the afternoon. We thought you might want a lie in." Toris explains as he gets ready for the day.

"No way, if I slept in, I wouldn't get to see you guys' contest." He says as he changes. As the three get ready the room door opens and Arthur comes back inside.

"Oh, your up." He says looking to Alfred.

"Where'd you go?"

"Breakfast."

"Dude, it's like..." Alfred looks about before spotting the small alarm clock on the desk. "7:30am. Why'd you go so early? We still have loads of time, we could have eaten together." He complains. Alfred, for all he grew up on a farm, is most definitely _not_ a morning person.

"You'll see." There's that smirk again, "I'll meet you at the contest hall in about an hour." He says as he grabs his bag and heads back out the room.

" _Now_ where are you going?" Alfred calls after him but receives no reply. He looks to the others for an answer, but they have none to give.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

An hour later the trio arrive at the contest hall.

"For such a small town, this place sure can draw crowds." Al remarks as he looks about for their missing member, "Hey, Freedom, can you see Arthur?"

"Ruff." His Pokemon replies looking about upon his head, but not finding their quarry.

"We'll see you later, Alfred. Come on Feliks, let's go get ready." Toris says as he drags his friend into the hall.

"Sure, catch you after Al!" The blonde calls as the pair head on in.

"See ya!" Al waves as they go. 'Great, now where _is_ Arthur?' Wading through the crowd, Alfred jumps slightly when a hand lands on his shoulder.

"Hehe, a bit jumpy are we?" Arthur asks.

"Artie! Dude, _there_ you are!" He cries when realising his friend has returned.

"Arthur! How. Many. Times!" He bites out at Alfred.

"What? I don't get what's so bad about it?"

"I absolutely **_hate_** that nickname."

"Okay, how about Art?"

"No."

"Alright... Oooh! What about Iggy?"

"I-Iggy? Where the _hell_ did you get _that_ from?" Arthur asks as he give Al a bewildered look.

"Your middle name, Ignatius, Iggy." Arthur takes a step back and stares for a full minute. Completely lost for a response that doesn't involve smashing his head into the contest halls brick walls.

"That's not a no~" Al teases in a sing song voice at Arthur's silence.

"I- wh- ho- y- hhhuuu?" Is the strange mix of sounds that Arthur produces to this. About all Alfred got from that was the questioning tone of it all.

"So... Iggy, you good?" He says, starting to grow concerned, Arthur hasn't moved or even blinked and it's starting to freak him out.

"NO!" He finally gets out, all too loud that even he jumps at the volume of his voice.

"Okay, okay. But come on dude, I gotta call you some thing."

"Arthur! Just. Call me _Arthur_. Is that _really_ so hard?"

"But that's so booooring. Everyone needs a nickname."

"No, no they don't."

"Whatever you say, Iggy~"

"Aarrggghh!" Alfred laughs at Arthur's frustration. He happily heads on into the hall, looking to get a good seat before the event starts as Arthur follows, making strangling gestures behind his back. He can hear him grumbling behind him before the crowd drowns it out.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Once inside it doesn't take them long to find seats, even one for Rufflet. As they wait for the contest to start, Alfred takes it upon himself to get them all snacks from the passing vendors. Now, popcorn and drinks in hand, they eagerly watch as the first event of the week begins.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen!" The announcer says, coming out onto the stage.

"Welcome to the Poké week Open contest! Today we have many talented coordinators, of all ages and skill levels, who are going to put on a wonderful show for you all, I'm sure. With me today, are the judges for the contest. Mr. Wick, vice chairman of the Pokemon contest committee, Mr. Oxenstierna, from the Trainers Guild and of course, Kansa Village's very own, Nurse Joy.

Now please, give a warm welcome to our first competitor!" The crowd cheers as the announcer bows and leaves the stage.

All falls quiet and the lights are dimmed, allowing the sunlight from the open roof to act as the sole source of light. A moment later the first competitor comes out. It isn't Feliks or Toris, but the pair watch the display closely anyway. Alfred has never really watched a contest before, but now he can see the appeal. The Pokemon are all well groomed, coats and scales and skin shining. And they all move with such poise and finesse, he wonders how he's never seen one before now. Going by Arthur's outburst the other day, and his mumbling comments to himself, Al's getting the feeling that Arthur's really into contests.

A few contestants have gone, and most were pretty good. Even the poor girl that tripped and fell, made it look like she meant it and was able to carry on. But so far he's not seen anything spectacular, nothing like the small glimpse he saw of Francis back in the Marcel city Pokemon center anyway. The contestants are in alphabetical order, so both Feliks and Toris won't be out for a while. But amongst all the fairly good contestants, one does stand out.

A young man, maybe in his mid twenties, comes out. Just from a glance, it's obvious that he knows what he's doing. Unlike all the others so far, he doesn't mistime his cue when the announcer introduces him. Ivan Braginsky comes out on stage, full of confidence, and bows to the audience. The crowd gives an unusually loud cheer at his name, Arthur must tell he's confused as he leans over and explains.

"That's Ivan, he's a very well known coordinator. He came close to beating the Frog for king last year."

"Oh." Alfred feels slightly out of the loop not knowing this man. He watches as Ivan pulls his pokeball out and tosses it into the air with a flourish.

"Sunflllllooooraaa." The Pokemon practically sings as it appears, spinning on the spot and bowing to the audience as well.

"A sunflora, huh." Alfred's seen plenty of them before, his parents have a whole green house of them. He never could figure out why, something about maintaining soil quality.

"Sunny, kindly use Sunny Day into Petal Dance, if you would." Al can here the man ask.

"Sun, flora." The Pokemon spins on the spot again as the sunlight filtering in grows brighter, and petals begin to form around the Pokemon, spinning in perfect sync together.

"Sun!" It cries as it stops, and sends the petals out all around to flutter back down to the ground where they dissipate. As the petals fall the Pokemon leans back, allowing the light to shine on its immaculately cared for body.

"Now Solar Beam, if you would."

"Sun, Sun!" It sings back as it instantly fires of the attack into the air and out the open roof. As the light from the attack fades, the last few falling petals glisten and shine. Ivan and his Pokemon both bow as one and the crowd cheers it's loudest yet.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

More contestants do their best, but it's clear many have been intimidated by the skill of Ivan, and trip up under the pressure of trying to live up to his standard.

"I hope Feliks and Toris are doing alright. With someone like Ivan competing, they must both be feeling the pressure, even if this _is_ an open contest." Arthur says beside him as they both watch another poor contestant muck up their routine.

"Yeah." He agrees. He never thought of how much pressure one performance could put on people, but he's never been in their shoes so he can't really say he understands it. Alfred lives for Pokemon battles, but if he thinks about it, it'd kinda be like doing a battle after watching the champion smoke someone. Yeah... That'd feel pretty hard to live up to.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Finally they hear the names they had been waiting for. It's been some time since Ivan's performance, and most of the competitors now seem to have calmed back down.

"Now, please give a warm welcome to, Toris Laurinaitis!" Toris comes out on stage, not missing his cue -first hurdle cleared- and bows. He seems a bit nervous, whether from the crowd, or the still present after effects of seeing Ivan is not clear.

He takes a deep breath as he rights, all nerves seeming suddenly calmed, and sends out his Pokemon.

"Golemas, let's do this." He says as his Pokemon appears.

Alfred tries not to tense too much in his seat. It's the Golett Toris mentioned before. But he can't help it, it's a knee jerk reaction to ghosts.

"Just breathe, Alfred." Arthur tries to help calm him, "Have you ever seen a Golett before?" He asks, trying to distract him like they had discussed one night.

"N-no." Damn it, he's stuttering again.

"Then look it up." Arthur tells him, gesturing to the pocket he keeps the Pokédex in. Pulling the device out Al does as he suggests, he's willing to try this distraction technique.

" _Golett, The automaton Pokemon._ _Ancient science fashioned this Pokémon from clay_ _._ _The energy that burns inside it enables it to move, but no one has yet been able to identify this energy._ "

"You see? That doesn't sound like anything to be scared of does it?"

"No."

"Golemas, finish with Stomping Tantrum!"

"Goooolll!"

Oh, too busy trying not to be afraid, he's missed most of Toris' performance. Looking down on the stage, Al questions what they're doing. The stage is covered in a smooth layer of mud and now the Golett is stomping about on it. He can't see the judges faces from here, but the crowd is silent. Al's afraid that Toris isn't doing well when he finally notices what the pair are doing.

As the Golett comes to a stop on the middle of the mud the pair take a bow. A moment of horrifying silence meets them, before the crowd erupts in cheers. They might be just as loud as they were for Ivan. At first glance it might seem like all they did was throw mud about the stage but a closer look will reveal that they have made a very detailed drawing of a Golurk. Al now wishes he had been paying attention, especially when he hears Arthur commenting on their display.

"Hm, very impressive. That was a risky move, dirtying up his pokemon and relying on the final result to show off they're true skill." He says as he nods, clapping approvingly.

A Vaporeon comes on from back stage to clean the stage before the next contestant comes out.

"Well, that was certainly something unexpected. Now, let's see what our next coordinator has in store. Please welcome to the stage, Feliks Łukasiewicz!"

On cue, Feliks bounds out onto the stage, no sign of any nerves. Alfred finds it interesting that he's completely fine appearing before a crowd but not with just two new people.

"Alright, Cutie! Let's, like, blow them away!" He happily announces as he sends out his Pokemon.

"Cu." The tiny bug Pokemon buzzes around his head upon entry. The crowd ohs approvingly, after all, pink Cutiefly's are very rare.

"Now, like, show them how amazing you are with Stun Spore and Fairy Wind!"

"Cu, Cu!"

Flying out into the middle of the stage, the bug preforms a small flip as it releases the spores into the air. Before they can fall, the Pokemon quickly switches into Fairy Wind, buzzing its wings at high speed to blow the spores across the whole stage. In the light from the opening the spores and Wind together glisten and shine beautifully.

"Now, blow them all away with your Draining Kiss!"

"Cuuuuu!" The Pokemon cries as glows softly with power before launching the fairy attack. The kiss floats gently forward before dispersing, blowing the particles of wind and spores away, clearing the stage as Feliks bows, his Pokemon coming to land on his head.

The crowd cheers approvingly and Alfred can't help but be swept up by it all.

"Well, we _certainly_ have some _very_ skilled coordinators here today. Now on to our next contestant!"

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Feliks, Toris! You guys were amazing!" Al greets the pair outside the contest hall. The contest over for the day the pair can now relax. Tomorrow the second lot of contestants compete, so they'll have a rest day, then they'll learn who gets through to the second round of the competition.

"Ah, thank you. I was so nervous going on. I can't believe Ivan is here." The brunette sighs, clearly relieved to be done.

"Yeah, Sorry. But I kinda missed part of it trying not to freak out, you know." Al apologises, feeling bad for missing the routine.

"Oh, no. It's fine." Toris reassures, waving his hands in front of him, "Really, I was such a nervous wreck out there, I'm kind of glad you missed it. I'd much rather you see us when we're at our best." He continues to reason.

"What are you talking about? You were, like, totally amazing! Your mud art was so cool!"

"Feliks is right, I've never seen anyone doing that before." Arthur agrees. ' _Definitely a fan of contests, yup._ '

"Ah, thank you. I was worried no one would like it. Dirtying your Pokemon goes against everything in Pokemon contest about showing the Pokemon off, I thought that they might not even consider the end result."

"Seriously, how many times do I have to say it? Your, like, the smartest coordinator I know! Your routines are so original, no one can hate on them!" Feliks proclaims.

"You were both very good." Arthur praises.

"Yeah, did you see how Cutie sparkles out there? Soooo cute!"

"Hehe, yes, Cutie is very sweet." Toris agrees, glad to move on from his performance.

"So, what do you guy's say. Lunch? Then it's time for us to compete in the tournament." Al asks as his stomach rumbles.

"Seriously? Your still hungry?" Arthur asks disbelievingly, he still can't get over how much Alfred eats. On the way to town he had eaten everything Arthur made. No one has ever done that! He didn't say anything at the time, but he's pretty sure Alfred could tell how happy it made him. That or his stomach is actually a small black hole, at this point it's 50/50.

"Dude, popcorn is like, 90% air. Course I'm still hungry." He reasons. Sighing, Arthur shakes his head.

"Fine." He gives in.

"Alright to lunch!"

* * *

 **Authors notes:** Contest time! And now Russia and Sweden has joined the growing cast. I think I have a role for just about everyone, depending on how things go, some nyo's may also make an appearance. And yes, he has a sunflower for a Pokemon, cause, how could I not?

Also, I just realised, shiny Cutiefly's are pink! Sooooo, now Poland has a pink Pokemon in a pink ball, yup totally planned that! *pretends that I didn't just now realise their colour while writing the chapter.*

Also I'm worried i'm not doing Poland and Lithuania's characters justice. Am I writing them any good? I've never tried writing for them before, so let me know if I'm way off mark.

And hey if you want, go check out my tumblr, the poster for last chapter is now up there.

As always reviews are nice but, till next time. Stay awesome!


	14. The tournament begins!

**This probably goes without saying but no, I don't own Hetalia or Pokémon. Wish I did though... Happy reading.**

* * *

"I'm soooo ready for this!" Alfred proclaims. He can hardly contain himself as he and Arthur wait back stage of the contest hall, now being set up as a battle field.

"Yes, Yes, your very excited." Arthur sighs, rolling his eyes at Alfred's antics.

"Alright trainers," The announcer from earlier says coming back stage with Nurse Joy, "we'll be starting soon. Please, one from each pair, come pick a number from this hat to decide the order you'll battle and your opponents." He says as he holds out a large top hat.

"I'll go!" Alfred tells Arthur as he bounds up to the announcer. Smiling he sticks his hand inside and pulls out a small red ball, the number 3 clear to see.

"Red 3," The man tells the nurse, "Of you go, you'll be called when it's time." He adds to Alfred.

Coming back to join his friend, he waves the ball in Arthur's face.

"Number 3! That means we won't have to wait long!"

"Right."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

From their place back stage they can hear the battles of the other trainers as they wait for they're turn. Alfred is growing antsy at the waiting, the small room is packed and he's desperate to get out and burn of all his pent up energy. He can tell Freedom is also getting impatient as he squawks at any one who comes too close or jostles Alfred.

Finally though, they're called. Both quickly head to the doors, from their place they can see the stage, now marked with chalk lines. The announcer stands out front, congratulating the previous battlers before introducing the next pair.

"Wha! No." Arthur suddenly says beside him, spying the camera crew trained on the field, and turns to leave.

"Wha! Arthur! Where are you going!" Al cries, grabbing his arm before he can leave.

"Let go! No one said this would be televised!" He snaps trying to pull his arm free.

"Huh? Your not camera shy are you? Come on, it'll be fine!" Al tries to reassure him. The television crew must have arrived during the break. He has to convince him quick, the announcer is beginning the introduction for their battle.

"Of course not!" He snaps back, still tugging his arm to leave.

"Then what's the problem?" When he receives no answer he continues, "Please, Arthur. I reeeaaallly wanna do this. And I want you to do it with me." Still no response as Arthur looks away. He can hear their names being called, it's now or never.

" _Please_ , Arthur." He pleads, letting his arm go and stepping towards the stage. For one horrible moment, he thinks Arthur is going to bail, but thankfully, he doesn't. He looks up and nods, following Alfred out on stage, though Al notices he keeps his head down, out of view of the camera. But Al tries to cover for them by waving happily to the audience. They cheer as the pair walk out, taking their place. Across from them, their opponents stand at the ready, a girl and a older man. The judge from before, Oxenstierna, stands as the match referee.

"Send out your Pokemon." He says in a gruff, slightly mumbling voice.

"Freedom, your up! It's time to shine!" Al calls as the bird Pokemon jumps down from his head. Across from them their opponents send out their Pokemon, a Venomoth from the girl and a Glaceon from the man. Beside him, Arthur is still yet to send out Torch.

"Arthur?" Al asks pleadingly. If Arthur doesn't send his Pokemon out, it'll count as a forfeit. He hears him sigh before he watches Arthur proudly raise his head and send Torch out.

"Torch, time for battle!"

"Lam..." The Pokemon worriedly says once out, arm raised to it's face as it looks about.

"Torch, remember what I told you?"

"La? Lam..." Giving one more fearful look about it looks back to Arthur and nods, "Lampent!" It says, suddenly full of determination and turns to face their opponents.

"Trainers ready?" The red judge asks, all nodding in agreement, "Battle start!"

"Veny, Super Sonic!" The girl calls.

"Glaceon, Icy Wind!" The man calls at the same time.

"Veeee!"

The Venomoth moves up into the air, beating its wings at high speed to generate the high pithed sound of the attack, while the Glaceon braces it's self. Opening its mouth, the ice Pokemon cries out as it sends a wave of frigid wind towards the pair.

"Gllllaaaa!"

"Ruffy, dodge and use Wing Attack on the Venomoth!" Al calls, aiming for the Pokemon weakest against his, just as the pair had planned earlier.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

 _"Alright, Alfred. While you stuff your face we need to make a plan for how we're going to battle." Arthur says as the four of them sit on the benches outside of the contest hall._

 _"Hmm?" He questions, mouth full of the pasta from the only shop to sell cooked food for takeout._

 _Sighing Arthur explains, "We won't know what type of Pokémon we'll be up against, so we should plan for each type match up."_

 _Alfred swallows his mouthful before answering. "Oh, Yeah, that does make sense. But won't that take too long?"_

 _"No, I've already thought about all the major type disadvantages. Why do you think I chose Torch?" He asks, Giving Alfred an expectant look._

 _"I don't know, I've never seen you battle with Torch before, you've only use Casper in training with me." He reminds._

 _"Well the short answer is to cover you. Or more specifically, Freedom. As a flying type, he's weak to rock and ice types. Torch can cover those weaknesses with his fire and grass type moves. Plus, it's about time he got to have some fun battling again._

 _"Torch? Fun? All I've seen him do is hide."_

 _"Well, you'll be in for a surprise. Just leave those Freedom is weak to to us, trust me." He smirks._

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Torch, get behind Glaceon and use Inferno." Arthur calmly commands.

"La!"

As Rufflet flies up out of the way of both attacks and aims for the Venomoth, Al watches as Lampent disappears. Using it's ghost typing to it's advantage and reappearing directly behind the Glaceon. Bringing its arms together Torch creates a ball of fire and forces it upon the ice type Pokémon.

"Glaaaaa!" It cries, engulfed in flames.

"Ru!"

"Veee!" At the same time Rufflet lands it's hit, sending the Venomoth crashing to the ground. Both Pokemon fainted, the match ends just as soon as it had started. A stunned silence follows as the referee calls the battle.

"Both Venomoth and Glaceon are unable to continue, Rufflet and Lampent win." Before the hall erupts in cheers.

"Yeah!" Al jumps about in celebration as Rufflet flies down to be hugged, a job well done. Lampent suddenly appears back at their sides, looking quite please with himself. Before he can even think about it Alfred surprises all of them by grabbing Torch in a hug.

"Torch! You were soooo cool! I never knew you were so strong!" Getting over the surprise of Alfred hugging his ghost Pokemon Arthur smiles.

"I told you you'd be surprised didn't I?" He asks, looking quite smug.

The pair move off to the room back stage, were they are met with silent stares and quiet whispers. Type advantages aside, it's rare for a battle to be won with one hit, let alone a tag battle to be finished in one single orchestrated move. Al smiles the stares off while Arthur chooses to glare at those whispering as they move to find a seat. The next lot are called up and things begin to return to normal in the waiting room once more.

"You." A voice suddenly says from behind them. Turning around, they're met with a young woman with platinum blonde, waist long hair. A large white bow is tied on top of her head, beside her Alfred realises Ivan is standing next to the girl.

"Uh, Hey." He says, Giving a small wave. He didn't know Ivan was also in the tournament. The girl glares at him silently, beginning to make him feel rather uncomfortable. Seemingly satisfied with whatever it was she was looking for she steps back.

"Don't lose. I want to be the one to beat you for my brother." With that she turns and disappears back into the masses.

"Sorry about her." Ivan then apologises! "My little sister can come off as a bit intense sometimes. But she means well." He explains.

"Oh, no, it's fine." He says, even if he is still a bit unnerved by the encounter. Extending his hand Ivan introduces himself.

"My names Ivan Braginsky and that was my sister Natalia."

"Alfred F. Jones. This is Arthur."

"Hello, Ivan."

"Ah, Arthur, I thought that was you. Only you could use such overkill in a battle."

"Hardly." He smirks.

"Wait...You two _know_ each other?" Alfred gapes at the pair.

"Yes, I met Arthur a few months back. Ah! That reminds me, Francis says to tell you your a, ooooh what was it he said... hmm. I can't remember, something rude though."

"I'm sure, damned frog."

"Wait Wait Wait! Back up, you know Francis now?! Like contest King, screaming at the T.V because he won, king?"

" _Yes_ Al. What about that is so hard to understand?"

"Wha- _how_?"

"That's none of your business." He says, sniffing in disdain.

"Hehe, are you still mad?" Ivan asks, trying to hide his laugh.

"Of course not! Only a child would still be fussed with that."

"Hehe, you are."

"He's an arse!" Arthur shouts loud enough to turn a few heads.

"Well you did shave his beard, so I think your both even."

Alfred thinks his brain might just have melted. Arthur, mister grumpy, everything must be prim and proper, _Arthur_. Somehow shaved the current Pokemon contest _King's_ beard. Is he wake right now? Did he somehow pass out during the battle and this is all a dream, an alternative reality? He discretely pinches himself. Nope, still wake so this must be an alternative reality then. Because he simply can't comprehend that Arthur did want they're saying. Though... this does bring up the question...

"So, what did Francis _do_ to make you hate him so much?" Insult his cooking, beat him in a battle?

"Nothing!"

"Hehe, maybe that's a story for another time."

"Don't you dare!" Arthur warns.

"Aw, come on! You gotta tell me!"

"Hmm. How about this, if you win the tournament, I _might_ , consider telling you."

"What! That's no fair."

"It doesn't matter cause your never going to know!" Arthur refutes the bet, warning Ivan with many colourful words just what fate awaits him if he even _thinks_ about telling Alfred.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

The trio sit down to watch the others battle, now being shown on the small wall T.V, before Ivan and his sister are called out.

"Ah, time for our bout. Natalia?" He calls into the crowd of trainers.

"Yes, brother?" She asks, appearing scarily fast next to him. Ivan dosn't seem fazed as he asks, "Ready?"

"Yes." She nods.

"Save our seats, this won't take long." He says as the head out.

And he wasn't lying. Both he and his sister defeat there opponents with ease, their powerful ice type Pokémon making quick work of them.

"Ah, that was fun. Don't you agree Natalia?"

"They were pathetic. Not worth your time." She says, expression as serious as ever.

"And you say _I_ use overkill." Arthur jests as they sit down.

"You do. I, on the other hand, use just force." Ivan reasons as if using a double Blizzard on a Goomy and a Phanpy _wasn't_ over doing it.

They settle back in to watching the other battles until the days end. Just like the coordinators, they'll have a rest day tomorrow as the rest of the first rounders do battle. Then on Wednesday it's round two for everyone and Alfred can't wait.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Arthur lies awake in bed, unable to fall asleep. ' _I'm probably worrying about this too much._ ' He thinks, ' _After all, what are the chances I'll be seen? It's just one small camera crew, and with all the hundreds of T.V channels, I doubt they'd notice._ ' He sighs as he rolls over. ' _Yeah, the chances are probably zero... Probably..._ ' Another sigh, another roll. ' _I should just go to sleep._ '

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

" _...and their opponents, Alfred Jones and Arthur Kirkland!_ "

Peter sat up at the name, staring at the T.V screen.

" _..._ _dodge and use Wing Attack..._ "

Did he really hear that right?

" _..._ _behind Glaceon and use Inferno._ "

Peter watches as the messy blonde on screen calmly commands the ghost Pokemon, eyes wide as he realises who it is.

"Daaaaaaad!" He shouts as he kneels to look over the back of the couch, out into the hallway. Yamask jumps from it's place next to him.

"Yes, son?" The man asks coming into the room.

"Arthur's on T.V!"

* * *

 **Authors notes:** Peter you grass. Whelp, Arthur things might not go so smoothly for you now. Or will they? You'll just have to wait and see. *mwhahahaha* *dodges flying scones*

And now Belarus is here, she really is never far from Russia, even in this alternative reality. But the real question is; just what did Francis _do_?

Cookies to anyone who can guess Russia's and Belarus's Pokemon.

Also, as a side note; I try to keep the British colloquialisms and slang to a minimum, and only for Arthur, so I don't confuse anyone, but sometimes things slip through the cracks. So if I do write anything you don't get don't be afraid to ask!

(At least I did't say that Golett got maukit last chapter, I don't think anyone outside of Scotland would have gotten that).

I feed on reviews so don't let me starve...

Till next time, stay awesome!


	15. Finding trouble

"Waaah! I can't believe you know Ivan!" Feliks cries as the four get ready. Last night Alfred had told the coordinators of they're battle and meeting Ivan and his kinda creepy sister. Toris was quick surprise but Feliks, much like Alfred, still can't seem to get over it. Or that Arthur personally know's the contest King.

"And Francis! Okay, you, like, _have_ to tell me! What's he like? What products does he use? Oh,oh! Where does he get his Pokemon groomed? Cause that has to be the best groomers, like, _ever_!" He continues to bombard Arthur with questions. Honestly, it's a surprise any of them got to sleep last night.

"I've already told you," Arthur sighs, wishing Alfred had never found out now, "I don't know what the frog uses, or where he gets his Pokemon groomed, nor do I care." He huffs.

"Alright, Alright. But you, like, so totally have to introduce us!"

"No way! I couldn't take meeting the King!" Toris waves his hands backing up from the idea alone.

"Aww, come on T, this is, like, a golden opportunity. You can't just pass stuff like this up!"

"Hahaha!" Alfred laughs at the trio from his bunk. Yup, today's gonna be a good day, he can feel it!

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Today is definitely not a good day.

Alfred stares. Arthur stares.

What. The. Hell?

Oh, this is bad. This is _way_ off the scale into outer _space_ bad!

This was supposed to be a rest day...

To think, this all started because of a Klefki...

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Alright so, what do you guys want to do?" Al asks as they leave the Pokemon center.

"I think I'll practice my routine some more." Toris says.

"Same." Feliks agrees.

"I need to go buy something for Torch." Arthur says heading off.

"Wait! I'll come with! See you guys later!" Al calls back to the pair as he follows after Arthur.

"Suit yourself." He shrugs.

"Sooo," Al asks when he can't take the quiet any longer, "What are you looking to buy?"

"Torch's favourite snack. He did well in that battle yesterday, so he can have his promised reward." He explains as he looks through the shop windows.

"Oooh, what'y gonna get him?" Rather than answer, Arthur walks into a store not far from the contest hall.

"Ah, here we are." Alfred follows him in, ducking slightly to avoid hitting Rufflet on the door frame.

"Ru?" The bird questions, looking about and sniffing the air. It's a Poffin shop.

"Oh, Poffins. I thought they were only used by coordinators though."

"True, coordinators do use them to help bring out the desired characteristics of their Pokemon. But Poffin are also a tasty snack. If you know what your Pokemon likes, it's always a good treat to give." Arthur explains as he moves along the shelf's, looking for something in particular it seems. The whole place gives him the feel of a candy store. One side of the shop is set up like a pick'n'mix. With large clear boxes filled with all kinds of Poffins and scoops to pick what you want, a scale at the far end of the rows. On the other side, where Arthur is, is rows of shelf's filled with jars and small boxes, each at a set price.

"Huh. What do you say Ruffy? Wanna try some?" He asks, spotting the free samples. Set in the middle of the store, all kinds of colours and flavours sit on trays, each with a name tag and description of the type of Poffin it is. A small stand in the centre simply reads:

 **Free samples!**

 **Try me!**

"Ruuff!" His Pokemon agrees looking over the lot.

"Okay... But what to try?"

"Hello, need some help?" The store assistant asks as she comes over.

"Oh, uh, maybe?" He says, scratching the back of his head. The choices are just too many.

"Hehe, that's not a problem. First time trying Poffins?"

"Uh, Yeah."

"Well, let's start with the basics." She says as she walks over to a tray. The Poffins on it look the most plain of the lot, though still very colourful.

"These are your basic one flavour Poffin. They have a smooth texture which most Pokemon like." She explains. "Do you know what type of flavour your Pokemon prefers?"

"Uh, no, hehe." He laughs nervously. He's never really considered if his Pokemon don't like the food he gives them since they always finish it. But he doesn't want to seem like a bad trainer for not knowing.

"Don't worry, it's easy to find out. Here try this one." She says as she hands over a plain pink Poffin.

"Okay, what do you think Ruffy?" He asks, offering the food up to the bird on his head.

"Ru?" Rufflet sniffs the Poffin before taking it, but immediately spits it back out.

"Ruuuuu!"

"Oops. Okay, so definitely not sweet. Here try this one." She says handing over a plain red one this time.

"Here, boy, try this." He offers the food up again. Rufflet gives it a wary look before sniffing it. As soon as he smells the Poffin, Ruffy snaps it up, eating it in one mouth full.

"Ru, ru!" He cries, flapping his wings to show his delight at the food.

"Hehe, like that one then?"

"Ru, ru!"

"So, spicy but not sweet. That means your Rufflet is Brave."

"Huh."

"She means the FPN test." Arthur explains as he comes over.

"That's correct." She nods.

"The wha?"

Arthur sighs, "The FPN, or flavour preference to nature test. It's a test that was developed by a Pokemon professor some years ago. A Pokemon's true nature can be determined through their preferences to flavours. For example Torch is of a Timid nature so he like sweet things but hates spicy foods. Rufflet hating sweet but liking spicy means he's of a Brave nature."

"Really? You can tell that from food? But I thought it was obvious that Torch is really Timid. And Ruffy being brave is just how he is." Alfred asks, not sure how food can relate to nature or why it's important.

"Yes, most of the time nature can be fairly clear but sometimes a Pokemon's nature isn't so obvious. That's why the FPN test is important." The girl explains.

"Yes," Arthur nods, "Take Casper for example. The way he acts he could be seen to fall under the Impish, Jolly or even the Sassy nature's. But he's actually of Modest nature."

"Really?"

"Yup, he may laugh at just about everything, but when it comes to himself he doesn't put himself out front. And if your wondering, Pumpkin is of the Docile nature."

"Huh, I never would have guess those two. So if Ruffy is Brave then what's Bouffy?"

"Do the test outside with him and find out."

"Okay."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

An hour later they leave the shop, arm fulls of Poffins in hand. He never would have thought that Bouffy was of a Relaxed nature, but then again, Bouffy's never really gotten worked up over anything, even in battle he's still pretty chill. As they head back to the center to drop off their haul, a Klefki shadows behind them.

"There." Arthur says as he locks the room door, Poffins now safely sat on the room desk for later.

"Kleee!" A sudden cries startles them as a Pokemon shoots forward and steals the key from Arthur's hand.

"Wha! Hey! Come back here with that!" He shouts as he runs after the Pokemon.

"Dude! Wait up!" Al calls as he hurries to catch up.

"Stop!" He can here Arthur shout as he leaves the center. Man, Arthur sure can run _fast_. Al chases after the pair, Rufflet taking off his head to fly along side him.

"Ruffy, go grab that Klefki!"

"Ru!" His pokemon cries as it flies on ahead.

They're a short distance outside of town when Rufflet finally grabs hold of the Pokemon, pulling it to a stop in mid air. Arthur huffs as he grabs the key and tries to take it back, but the Pokemon's hold doesn't loosen one bit.

"Give it!" He snaps.

"Kllleee!" It cries, refusing to give the key up.

"Hang on, I got this." Al pants as he makes it to the group. Tickling it's key shaped head, Alfred patiently waits for the Pokemon's hold to lessen. It doesn't take long as the Klefki begins to giggle and separate it's arms, dropping it's keys. Arthur quickly grabs theirs and puts it back in his pocket.

"I didn't think you could make a Klefki give up it's keys like that." He says, quite surprised by Alfred.

"Hehe, we have one back at the farm to hold all the keys to the barns and sheds. This was the only way we could ever get her to give them up for cleaning." Al explains as he stops tickling the poor Pokemon senseless.

"Klllee." It whines at having the key taken back.

"It wasn't yours." Arthur grumbles, placing a hand over his pocket to prevent the key from being stolen again. "Now where's your trainer? Or are you just going around stealing keys for the sake of it?" He asks the Pokemon.

"Kle? Klefki." It says picking the only other key it had up and showing it to the pair, a black metal key with a flat end. Looking closely they can see a symbol imbedded in the metal.

"Wait, that's..." Arthur says, eyes widening.

"What?"

"That's the symbol for _Arceus_." He says pointing at the key.

"Arc- Wait, as in like Pokemon God Arceus? Why's it got a key like that?"

"How the hell should I know? Either it stole it from somewhere or it belongs to its trainer."

"So, What? It's trainer likes Arceus or something?"

"Who knows, but it's definitely an odd thing to have on a key, that's for sure."

"Kel!" The Pokemon suddenly cries, as if just remembering something and heads off. The pair, with nothing better to do with their time, decide to follow it. Maybe they might find it's trainer, or at least stop it from stealing anymore keys.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

They follow the Pokemon for quite sometime, seemingly with no real destination in mind before it would remember and hurry off again. The sun has mostly set, twilight setting in, as they are just about to give up and head back, when they hear shouting up a head. Curious, they head towards the sounds, the Klefki zooming on ahead, climbing up the steep hill after it to see.

"Hey, Hey! Careful now! Don't you idiots know how valuable this thing is?!" A man shouts. Beside him Arthur gasps and pulls Alfred down to the ground.

"Get down!" He harshly whispers at him as they flatten themselves at the hills ridge. On front of them they can see a cave and a group of people dressed in black, the symbol for Arceus emblazoned in gold on their backs. A large black transit truck and several cars are parked just at the caves entrance, the man they heard shouting standing at the caves entrance and others stand by the trucks open rear.

"What's going on?"

"Ssshhhh!" Arthur hushes him as they watch. From the cave they can hear more shouts and the angry cry of a Pokemon.

' _This is bad, this is definitely not a normal thing._ ' Alfred thinks.

"Coooo!" They can hear it cry as more shouts come on from the cave.

"That's it, that it!" The man calls into the cave as more people come out. Squinting Alfred can see they're holding some sort of rods in their hands.

"Coooooooo!" The Pokemon roars as it's brought out, caged. Alfred stares as the large, horned, blue, quadruped Pokemon thrashes about it the cage, the men pushing the rods through to shock the Pokemon.

"Haha!" The man laughs as the cage is fulling brought out.

" _Aw_ , tell me _whatever_ is the _matter_ , _Cobalion_?" The man asks, voice sickeningly sweet and full of sarcasm.

"Cooo!" The Pokemon cries in anger as it's horns glow with power and swings it's head, smashing them into the cage bars between it and the man.

"Ah, let me _guess_ , not a fan of your new... _accommodation_? Shame, since you won't be leaving it anytime soon. Hahaha!" He laughs as he steps aside, waving to the others to move the cage onto the truck.

Alfred stares. Arthur stares.

What. The. Hell?

Oh, this is bad. This is _way_ off the scale into outer _space_ bad!

Are these people... kidnaping a legendary Pokemon?!

"Hurry up! We don't have all day!" the man barks.

"Kle!" Klefki cries as it flies up to the man.

"Oh, Klefki. Where did you wonder off to this time?" He asks, in a voice way to casual for the situation.

"Kle, Kle!" It cries pointing back the way it came. Alfred and Arthur quickly duck down so as not to be seen.

"Heh, always wandering off." A loud bang resonates from inside the truck, and the man turns back around to shout at the others.

"Hey! What did I tell you! Be _careful_! That's precious _cargo!_ "

"We need to stop them!" Alfred whispers at Arthur.

"How? There are at least 20 of them and only the two of us. No, we need to get away and report this to the police!" Arthur whispers back.

"But! We can't just let them get away!"

"If you go out there, you'll only be putting yourself _and_ your Pokemon in danger. We need to leave. Now!" Arthur says as he begins to quietly slip back down the hill.

"But..." Alfred looks back over at the truck as the men climb out and close the doors, heading into the cars. Cobalion can still be heard crying out from inside, though now muffled by the steel walls.

"Think of Ruffy, do you really think he can take them on? The _just_ caged a _legendary_ Pokemon, do you really think you can fight them?" Arthur reasons as he sees Alfred's reluctance to leave.

"No..." No, of course they can't take them on, but he still hates the idea of leaving. But the decision is made for them as the truck and cars drive off.

"Come on, the sooner we get back, the sooner the police can get after them."

"Right!" Alfred agrees following Arthur quickly back to town.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"And that's everything." Arthur finishes as they sit in the small towns police station.

"Alright, we'll dispatch a team to go after them right away. You boy's did the right thing." Officer Jenny says as she stands. She places a comforting hand on Alfred's shoulder. "I know it must have been hard to see that, but coming here instead of trying to stop them yourselves _was_ the right thing. Now, thanks to you, we know what happened and can track that truck." She says, trying to comfort Alfred.

"Yeah." Really it was all Arthur. He recounted every detail they saw, even the trucks registration! He even drew out the symbol for them, all Al did was sit and nod along.

"Come on, I think it's about time we turned in for the night." Arthur says once their outside.

"How can you be so calm? Aren't you worried?" Alfred's not sure if he should be angry at the way Arthur is acting so calm about this.

"Of course I am." He replies steadily, "But getting all worked up about it won't solve anything. We've done all we can, now it's in the hands of the police. They'll sort it."

"Mmmh."

"Look, there's no point in crying over spilt milk, so stop beating yourself up about it." Arthur frowns at him when he just shrugs.

Sighing Arthur smacks him up side the head.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"Better, you just don't look right with that mopey face."

"So you hit me?!"

"Got rid of it didn't it?"

"No fair!" Al calls as Arthur runs back to the center.

"Well next time listen to what I say! Haha!" He laughs as Al chases him.

Yeah, Arthur's right. No point worrying about it. And tomorrow is a new day, a new chance to do things right!

* * *

 **Authors notes:** So that happened, yup... What does this all mean? Who knows... well I do but that's besides the point. But on the plus side you get to find out about the boys Pokemon's nature's so yeah?

There wasn't a good place to add this in the chapter so here's a little back ground info.

This story takes place a good few years after all the current Pokemon games, weird multi universe theories aside. So, all the professors of the games who ask you to fill the dex or do some other errands for them, have all completed they're research from the games. Hence why Pokédex's are now complete and there free cause Feli is boss. As for the Pokemon nature's, it won't really have any baring on the story besides this chapter but it's there. And if you're curious, the professor to come up with the FPN test (which I totally just came up with on the spot) was professor Birch.

Remember R & R people.

Till next time, stay awesome!


	16. Day 3, Contest and Battles

"Whoa, that's, like insane!" Feliks says. The pair had recounted the events of the previous day to the two coordinators in the morning as they all got ready for the day ahead.

"I can't believe someone would even do that." Toris adds, just as shocked about the news.

"Next time, I'm, like, sticking with you guys. All the exciting things happen to you."

"This isn't something to be excited about." Arthur gripes at Feliks. Alfred is keeping his distance from him. He's learned by now, do _not_ make conversation with Arthur before his morning tea. Feliks on the other hand, seems oblivious of the dangers of a grumpy Arthur.

"Yeah, I know it's, like, horrible. But you guys still got to see a legendary Pokemon! Crappy circumstances aside, that amazing!"

"Always with the positives, Feliks." Toris shakes his head at his friend. But it's true and Feliks' positivity has really helped to boost Alfred's spirits.

"Ah! We better hurry or we'll be late." Toris cries at seeing the time.

The four pile out of the room and hurry to breakfast.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"I hope they all got through. It'd suck for them to come back and learn that they didn't make it to the second round." Al says as they sit in the contest hall audience.

"Don't worry. They all definitely made it. They were the best of the lot." Arthur says confidently from his side.

"Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, to day three of the Poké week event!" The announcer calls as he walks out on stage.

"Now, we've had many wonderful contestants, but only the best of the best can make it through to the second round. With that said, please give a warm welcome to those moving on to the next stage!"

The pair watch as the group of successful's walk out to be greeted with cheers. Both Feliks and Toris are among the group, Ivan too. The group line up and bow, before heading back stage.

"Now as is customary of the Eprus region Pokemon contests, the second stage will be a timed trial to earn points. Each coordinator will have just 2 minutes to preform and show of their Pokemon to their very best. With that said, please welcome back to the stage, Ivan!"

The crowd gives a cheer of approval at Ivan being the first out. Just like the day before, he walks out with confidence.

"Alright, Ivan your time starts, now!"

"Sunny, to the stage!" He says immediately, not waisting a single second.

The ball arcs elegantly from his throw, and his Pokemon twirls and bows as it appears, not missing a beat.

"Sunny, Petal Dance into Grass Whistle, if you would." He asks and his Pokemon is quick to comply.

"Suuun." It gives it's sing song like cries as it once again generates the petals, sending them out as high as it can. The petals all slowly flutter down to the ground as the Sunflora switches into the Grass Whistle. Bringing its leaf arms up to its face it begins a sweet whistling song. As it whistles, the Grass type Pokémon begins to prance across the stage, twirling and leaping in time with it's song. As it sings and dances, petals falling all around, Ivan begins to hum loudly together with his Sunflora, both trainer and Pokemon in perfect sync as they create a beautiful melody.

As the two minute mark nears, Ivan gives one last call to his Pokemon.

"Finish with Sunny Day."

Ending it's song, the Pokemon seamlessly transitions into the move, intensifying the sunlight to create a spotlight on the Pokemon, centre stage and surrounded by petals. The pair bow exactly as the time runs out to a huge roar of cheers.

"Whoa..."

"Yes, Ivan really knows his stuff." Arthur agrees with Alfred's awed stare.

"That's gotta be tough to follow." He says, thinking on how Feliks and Toris must be feeling the pressure. Below he can see the camera crew from before transfixed by the display. The female presenter animatedly talking to the camera.

' _I wonder if Ivan's the reason that they're here?_ ' Alfred ponders. He gives Arthur a sidelong glance.

' _He still won't tell me why he didn't want to be on camera..._ ' For all Arthur looks relaxed, Alfred like's to think he knows him well enough now to tell otherwise. His grumpier than normal mood this morning was definitely a giveaway. Even if he won't admit it, he's still bothered about appearing on T.V again. Alfred sighs as he turns back to the stage, another contestant is starting.

' _I just wish he'd tell me what's bothering him so much. I mean, we're friends right? He should know he can talk to me._ ' Alfred tries to repress another sigh as he looks back over at Arthur.

' _I wish you wouldn't keep shutting me out..._ '

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Now, welcome back to the stage, Toris!" Alfred sits up more and claps, cheering loudly as their friend comes out. He still looks nervous but is hiding it a lot better.

"Toris, your time starts, now!"

"Golemas, let's do this!" He calls as he sends his Pokemon out. This time, Alfred is determined to watch their performance, fear or no fear, his not going to miss his friends hard work.

"Golemas, Rollout and Ice Beam, go!"

"Goo!" His Pokemon replies.

Curling into a ball, The Pokemon begins swiftly rolling around the out side of the stage, spiralling inwards. At the same time, it let's out a continuous Ice Beam, slowly covering the stage in a thin layer of ice as it goes. The light from its body, mixed with the light of the attack, reflect off the ice floor and cause the whole stage to shimmer and shine.

"Now, Stomping Tantrum!" Toris calls.

Effortlessly coming out of the Rollout the Golett begins to skate across the ice field. Rather than quickly stomping like before, it's movements this time look as if they are in slow motion, as it uses each stomp to change direction. Just as time runs out, the Pokemon comes to a stop in the middle of the stage and bows, body glowing it's brightest to maximise the shine from the ice below.

Loud applause and cheers follow the display, and Alfred can see the back of the judges heads, the scary looking one nodding in approval.

"Wonderful performance there from Toris and his Golett. Now once the stage has been cleared we'll move on to our next coordinator."

The Vaporeon from before comes out and clears the Ice with Scald.

"Now, please welcome to the stage once more, Feliks!"

"Cutie, time to so, like, blow everyone away again!" The coordinator excitedly calls as he sends out his rare pink Cutiefly once more.

"Cutie, use, like, Hidden Power!"

"Cu!"

Flying forward, the Pokemon creates orbs of energy to surround itself. Rather than forge them into one and release them like the attack normally would, the Pokemon maintains them in the early stage, keeping the balls spinning around its tiny form.

"Now Fairy Wind!" Feliks calls.

"Cuuuuuu!" It cries as the orbs are pushed out by the glistening Wind. Spiralling out the orbs burst and release energy of all types, creating shining multi coloured fireworks. As the particles all fall, they land and reflect of off the bug Pokemon, enhancing it's natural beauty. At time up, the Cutiefly lands on Feliks head like before and he bows.

The crowd cheers wildly, perhaps their loudest yet, maybe even more than for Ivan.

"That was amazing!" Al shouts along with the cheers.

"Very impressive." Arthur agrees. To hold an attack in the formation stage takes real skill.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Now, it's the time you've all been waiting for!" The announcer says after a short break after the last coordinator finished.

"The judges have reviewed their scores and now, it's time to announce who the lucky few are to move on the third and final round!" The man pauses for dramatic effect before continuing.

"Our 5 finalists are," more pausing, "Ivan, Tara, Toris, Feliks and Chloe!" Cheers go up for each name, but Alfred is just relieved they got through. But now they'll be up against Ivan for the final.

"Now as with official contests, we'll give our coordinators a day to prepare their routine for the themed battle event! This weeks theme is... Harvest!" Alfred looks to Arthur for an explanation.

"All regions have there own way of doing contests. Here in Eprus, it's a three stage process. First is the open show, were they can do whatever they feel is best to grab the judges attention. Second is the time trial, were they have a limited time to show off their Pokemon while earning points from the judges. The last stage is the themed battle. The coordinators are given a one word theme and must come up with a routine in one day to fit the theme. On the day, all the finalist compete at the same time to earn the votes of the audience and the judges votes as well."

"So, that means they'll all be on stage at the same time, trying to one up each other?"

"Essentially, yes. And like the name says, it's also a battle. The coordinators may choose to fight each other if they think that'll get them more votes, but if a Pokemon faints that also puts them out of the running."

"Sounds complicated."

"It's really not, you'll see tomorrow."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Ah, Hello again." Ivan greets them as they enter the waiting room back stage for the second round of the tournament.

"Hey, so your through to the finals for the contest, huh?" Al asks by way of greeting.

"Yes, it should be most fun." He says smiling.

"Heh, shouldn't you be more focused on the match coming up?" Arthur asks.

"Ah, Arthur. No, I do not think I need to be too concerned. Everyone here is very weak." He shrugs.

"Oh, you wouldn't be including **_me_** in that would you? Or would you like me to remind you _just_ what I can do? Hmm?" Arthur challenges, smirking.

Alfred shivers, suddenly feeling _very_ wary of Arthur.

"Oh, no. I wouldn't consider _you_ weak. I rather like my head on my shoulders." Ivan says, raising his hands in a placating manner.

Alfred's not sure if he's being serious or sarcastic. He's beginning to see that the pair have a very passive aggressive friendship, if you can call it that.

"No, I didn't think so." Arthur says still smirking.

 _'I hate this, are they joking around or not? It's freaking me out!_ '

"Alfred and Arthur? It's almost time for you two." The announcer calls into the room, ending the pairs talks.

"Don't lose~" Ivan calls after them as they head out.

"Please welcome back to the field, Alex and Sarah. And their opponents, Alfred and Arthur!" The announcer calls as they walk out, crowd cheering.

Across from them two teens who look to be brother and sister stand as their opponents.

"Freedom, time to shine!"

"Ruff!" The Pokemon cries, excited for another battle as it flies down.

"Torch, to battle."

"Lam!" The ghost Pokemon calls, looking determined to win.

Alfred can't help but be impressed, it's like the Pokemon has a completely different personality when battling.

The teens smile wickedly at each other before sending out their Pokemon.

"Go, Gigalith." The girl says.

"Go, Nidoking!" The boy calls.

As soon as the Gigalith appears, it glows slightly and a sandstorm suddenly fills the hall, it's ability activating.

"Giiiiiggggaaaa!"

"Niiiooodddooo!"

The Pokemon both roar, stomping on the ground in a display of strength, and causing the room to shake slightly from their weight and power. Both large Pokemon are easily more than double the size of their own Pokemon. Alfred won't admit it, but he's a bit worried. A Rock type and a Poison and Ground type aren't the best match up for them, especially that Gigalith with it's Sand Stream ability now active making it difficult to see their opponents. He glances to Arthur but the man doesn't seem worried in the least, in fact he's smirking. He catches his eye and Arthur must know what he's thinking as he smiles confidently and says, "Don't worry. Just stick to the plan."

Nodding Al turns his attention back to the field.

"Begin!" The Ref calls and the battle starts, full force from the very beginning.

"Gigalith, Attract on Rufflet!"

"Nidoking, Venoshock on Lampent." The pair call simultaneously.

"Ruffy, look out!" Al calls, but in the sandstorm it's difficult to see where the attack is coming from.

"Torch, dodge that!" He hears Arthur call beside him.

In the blinding sandstorm Rufflet flies up in hopes to get away from the attack, but is caught of guard as the Attract is delivered from directly below. With no time to react the attack lands, pink love hearts surrounding and being absorbed into Rufflet. The effect of the move taking hold, Rufflet now suddenly infatuated with the Gigalith.

At the same time Lampent remains still after Arthur's call, waiting until the last second to act. The move pays off, as the pair see the approaching toxic spray of the attack and Torch effortlessly moves out of it's trajectory.

"Ruffy!" Al calls to his Pokemon but get's no response from the love struck bird.

"Hehe, good news bro, the birds a boy."

"Perfect."

They can just about hear the pair say across the field.

"Our turn. Torch, let's get them back for that shall we? Confuse Ray on Gigalith." Arthur says calmly, but Al can hear the dangerous edge to his voice and is suddenly very grateful that he's on his side.

"Lampent!"

Using the low visibility to his advantage, the Pokemon disappears into the storm, reappearing somewhere above the Rock Pokemon.

"Gigalith, Protect, quick!" The girl calls but is too slow.

"Laaam!" It cries as it sends shining waves of light out at the Pokemon causing the Gigalith to become confused.

"Nidoking, Venoshock again!" The boy calls, taking advantage of the closeness of Torch.

"Ruffy, get in there and help! Use Wing Attack on the Nidoking, please!" Al begs.

Thankfully the call is heard, and, despite the effects of the Attract, Rufflet moves to attack.

"Grr, Gigalith, Smack Down on Rufflet!" The girl shouts.

"Dodge Torch!" Arthur calls to add to the mix.

Lampent swiftly moves back and up to get away but the Nidoking is faster. Moving forward, the Poison Pokemon fires a Venoshock again, this time landing it's target in a toxic mass of purple poison.

"La!" Torch cries as he's hit, forced backwards by the force and sting of the poison. At the same time, Rufflet moves in to attack but, like Alfred was, it's trainer got lucky as her call gets through to her Pokemon. The Gigalith, though still confused, manages to fire of the small stone of the attack at Rufflet. Too focused on attacking, Ruffy doesn't see the rock coming and Alfred's own view is obscured by the still raging sandstorm. Just as Rufflet connects it's Wing Attack, the stone hits it. The Nidoking is pushed back slightly by the attack, but is saved from the brunt of it by the Smack Down knocking Rufflet out of the air.

Now, with both their Pokemon on the ground and reeling from the attacks, their opponents don't waste any time taking advantage of the opening.

"Gigalith, Protect now!"

"Nidoking, Earthquake!"

However, the pair are not as lucky as before. Hoping that her call would get through again or simply forgetting the confusion, either way the girl realises her mistake, as rather than protect itself, her Pokemon shakes it's head and charges into the nearby wall.

Either not realising the situation or simply wanting to go ahead anyway, the boy makes no move to stop his Nidoking.

"Niiii!" It cries as it stomps heavily on the ground, causing shock waves to spread out in all directions.

"Quick, Ruffy, get up!" Al calls but to no avail, the Attract's effects blocking his call from being heard.

"Giiii!" The Rock Pokemon cries as, after injuring itself in it's confusion, it is now hit by it's partners attack.

"Torch, up now, and grab Ruffy!" Arthur calls quickly as the Earthquake is launched.

"Laa!" It cries, quickly floating back up into the air and swooping down to pick Rufflet up and safely away from the ground attack.

"Phew, thanks."

"Heh, you didn't think I'd just let you get hit did you?" Arthur questions, smirking again, "Now, let's deal with this pair."

"But how? Ruffy is still under the Attract, and we can't switch to free him. Plus," He says as he looks to the storm, "this sandstorm is still going. I don't know how much more of this Ruffy can take."

He knows he should trust his Pokemon, but their position isn't looking good, and their Pokemon are both constantly taking damage from the storm. He watches as Arthur too looks to the sandstorm.

"Yes, that Gigalith must have a Smooth Rock."

"A what?"

"A Smooth Rock, it increases the duration of Sandstorms. That must be why the storm hasn't cleared yet." He explains, looking back out to the field.

"But don't worry. Just look at Gigalith." There's that smirk again.

Looking through the storm, Alfred can see the Pokemon is struggling to remain standing. Behind it, their opponents look to be arguing, the girl waving her arms about at the boy and his Pokemon.

Ah, now Alfred understands. The Gigalith took major damage from the Earthquake, the Ground type move being super effective against it's Rock typing. And the move seems to have damaged the pair of trainers cooperation.

"Ready?"

"Yeah!"

"Torch, throw Rufflet at Gigalith." He says, as calm as ever.

For a moment, Alfred is worried by the move, but he knows Arthur. He wouldn't do anything to harm Freedom. So he'll trust him and go along with his plan.

"Ruffy! Peck!" He calls as his Pokemon is thrown at their opponent.

"Ru?" It questions before obeying, his call making it through.

With the added speed from the throw, the attack force is increased as the move hits, dead centre of the Rock Pokemon's body.

"Torch, Energy Ball."

"Laaa!"

As Rufflet backs away after landing its hit, Torch, using its ghost typing to its advantage, passes straight through Rufflet and quickly forms and releases the Grass type attack at point blank range.

"Giiiiiii..." The Rock Pokemon cries as the Energy Ball explodes on contact, and drops to the ground, fainted.

"Gigalith is no longer able to battle." The Ref calls.

"Whaaa?! This is all your fault!" The girl cries, recalling her Pokemon and turning her anger on her partner.

"Not my fault you messed up. _Relax_ , I'll win this." The boy says as he turns away from the irate girl.

"Hmph! You better!" She huffs childishly.

Now, with out the Gigalith and it's Smooth Rock, the sandstorm finally subsides. Rufflet is also finally released from the effects of the Attract.

"Nidoking, Venoshock on Rufflet."

"Ruffy, dodge!"

"Torch, Energy Ball once more."

As the Nidoking moves forward it launches another toxic spray of poison, this time aimed at Rufflet. Without the sandstorm to obscure their view, Ruffy easily flies up and away, dodging the attack. At the same time, Torch moves forward passed Rufflet and begins to form another Energy Ball. Once Ruffy is safely out of the way, Lampent fires the ball at the Nidoking.

"Ah! Nidoking dodge and use Disable!"

The Pokemon responds quickly, just barely avoiding the ball attack and turns towards Lampent, eye's glowing blue as it fixes the ghost with it's gaze.

Nothing much seems to happen, besides Torch halting in the air for a moment before moving back to a safe distance from their opponent.

But Alfred knows this may be a problem, now Arthur is restricted in the moves he can have Torch use. Not that they let this stop them.

"Ruffy, Wing Attack!"

"Grr, I've had enough! Nidoking Giga Impact on Rufflet." The boy calls without warning.

"Ah! Ruffy get away!" Al calls panicked. There's no way they can take such a strong attack.

Rufflet had begun it's Wing Attack when Al changed his command to dodging. Swooping low, Ruffy uses the momentum from the spool up of the Wing Attack to increase it's speed to get away. However, it's not enough.

"Ruffy!" Al calls as he's helpless but to watch as the Nidoking quickly closes in.

"Torch!" He hears Arthur call.

Knowing it's trainers intentions, Lampent quickly moves to intercept the attack, shoving Rufflet out of the way at the last second. Alfred watches as the Nidoking, wrapped in the energy waves of the Giga Impact, passes straight through Lampent and the attack ends. Now, even though the attack had no effect, it did hit, so the Nidoking must recharge, leaving it open to attack. Alfred and Arthur glance at each other and nod, smiling. This match is as good as won.

"Ruffy, Wing Attack one more time!"

"Torch, get in close and use Inferno!"

Both Pokemon, much like their trainers share a look before moving in together. From the right, Rufflet lands a solid hit from it's Wing Attack. From the left, Lampent appears and generates a large ball of fire, forcing it upon the Nidoking.

"Niiii..." It cries at being hit simultaneously, fainting.

"Nidoking is no longer able to battle, Rufflet and Lampent win. The match goes to Alfred and Arthur!" The Referee calls loudly, queueing the audience to give out a roar of cheers at the win.

"Yeah! We did it!" Al cries happily as he once more does a dance of celebration, pulling Rufflet into the now customary victory hug.

"Lamp!"

"Very well done boy." Arthur praises, petting his Pokemon on the head.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Ah, a most interesting match." Is the first thing Ivan says as they come back to the waiting room.

" _Nah_ , that was easy, right, Iggy?"

"Dear _God_ , for the love of Pokemon, will you **_please_** stop calling me that?!" Arthur cries, putting his head in his hands at the return of the nickname.

"Iggy?" Ivan questions, confused.

" _Don't_ ask _._ " Arthur groans as he drops down into a seat. Ivan chuckles at Arthur's clear signs of distress towards the name.

"Hehe, very well then." He concedes.

It isn't long before Ivan and his sister are up. Their Ice Pokemon once again making quick work of their opponents. The pair using what Alfred is quickly beginning to think is their signature move, the double Blizzard.

By the days end their positions are clear, if both he and Arthur, and Ivan and his sister win tomorrow, they'll face each other in the final and Alfred can't wait.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

 _"Torch, get in close and use Inferno!"_

The trio sitting on the couch all lean in close as they watch the T.V screen.

 _"Nidoking is no longer able to battle, Rufflet and Lampent win. The match goes to Alfred and Arthur!"_

The three gasp, the eldest letting out a loud cheer, whilst the youngest bounces up and down in his seat. The last one is much more reserved, simply nodding in approval, the pride in their eyes clear to see. Behind them a fourth member enters.

"Aww, don't tell me I missed it!" He cries as he hurries over.

"Hehe, sorry but your too late." Alistair laughs, causing the new arrival to frown in disappointment.

"Yeah, it was soooo cool! Arthur's amazing! Why'd he ever leave?" Peter asks. The three elders look between each other, unsure what to say.

"He just had too." Alistair finally settles on, not wanting to go into their rebel brothers reasoning. He doesn't think he can.

For now, they'll wait and see what their brother will do. If he decides to now finally come home, they'll be waiting.

* * *

 **Authors notes:** Wow, this chapter just didn't want to end. I couldn't find a good place to split it, so you get an extra long chapter this time.

So let's see... Bit about how the contests work? Check. Russia's beautiful singing voice? Check. Lithuania and Poland being awesome coordinators? Check. And finally awesome battle scene? Check. Okay I think we're all good. And a look at things from Arthur's brothers again.

Also, it isn't mentioned in the chapter but the Nidoking's ability here is Rivalry, which makes attack stronger against those of the same gender. So, males. Which is why you hear that bit about Rufflet being a boy as a good thing to them. Just thought some of you might be interested, this is kinda stuff that goes into planning these battles, even if you don't get it all in chapter, so there you go.

Oh, and I forgot last time cause I'm way too spacey, the nickname of Toris' Golett, Golemas is (hopefully) Lithuanian for Golem.

Remember I live off of reviews!

Till next time, stay awesome!


	17. Tournament semifinal

"Harvest, harvest... Oh, what I'm I going to do?"

Al watches as Toris paces back and forth between the beds of their tiny room. He's been worrying about the battle event theme ever since they got back and barely slept last night. Feliks on the other hand, seems to be completely unfazed by the display.

"Uh, Toris?"

Alfred's worried questioning from his bunk goes unnoticed by the pacing teen.

"Don't bother, T is always like this when we get the theme." Feliks lazily replies as he lies on his side on his bed. Al can see him following his friend's movements with his eyes, but makes no move to stop the pacing.

Just when he thinks he can't take the pacing anymore, the room door opens and Arthur returns. Up early as always and, judging by his chipper demeanour, has had his morning tea. Without a word of explanation, he walks right up to Toris, turning him around to face him and, when Toris opens his mouth to speak, finds it suddenly full. Arthur, in all his wisdom, for some reason has shoved some sort of flat round food into the teens mouth. Alfred watches with a weird mix of anticipation and trepidation as Toris' eyes widen, teeth half sunk into the food, he waves his arms, a bit unsure of what to do, before he finally takes a bite and holds the rest out, giving it a look of surprise. The teen chews slowly at first, before apparently deciding that the food is okay and swallows.

"This is..." He says, staring at the pastry.

"A Chorley cake." Arthur says looking quite pleased with himself.

"I've never heard of it before."

"It's an old family recipe."

"It's good." Toris says before taking another bite.

Before Alfred can say anything, he's forced to scramble to catch the small cake that Arthur throws up at him, he also sees him give one to Feliks. Alfred let's out a quiet sigh of relief as he takes a bite. ' _ _Oh, Good it's a pastry.__ ' Alfred has learned by now that Arthur __really__ can't cook, numerous burnt and bland meals have told him that much. But he __can__ bake, __really__ well too.

"Now that you've eaten, feel any better?" He hears Arthur ask below him.

Toris nods as he finishes off the cake.

"Great! Now we can get to work on our routines!" Feliks suddenly cries as he jumps out of bed to latch onto his friend.

"Ah, Yes. Sorry, I've been worrying about it so much that I haven't even thought of something to do."

"Chill, it'll be fine. Here's what we're gonna do. First, we'll go into town and do some shopping. While we shop we can brainstorm ideas for the final. I know you'll figure something __amazing__ out, you always do. Then, we can go work on our routines as so totally beat Ivan in the contest." Feliks effortlessly decides.

"Ah, I wish I could have as much confidence as you." Toris sighs but he smiles and nods, "But you're right. Worrying won't get me anywhere, better to be proactive."

"Totally. So what are you two gonna do?"

"Oh, um, I don't know. Arthur?"

"I think we should make a plan for our next battle. We know who we're up against, and we've both seen how they fight. The logical thing to do would be to prepare." Arthur reasons.

"Sure."

"Aright, we'll see you guy's later. We'll so totally be cheering for you."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

A few hours later and their once again at the contest hall, coming out to fight in the semifinals. Alfred is practically beaming, Arthur's plan is perfect, they'll never see it coming.

"Please Welcome our first pair of semifinalists, Freya and Blanche, and their opponents, Alfred and Arthur!"

Alfred doesn't waste any time coming out as soon as their names are called. Even Rufflet is clearly excited as he flies about in the air above the pair. Across from them, their opponents are also making their way out, a young girl, no older than 8, happily bounces out onto the field. Beside her, a much more serious looking young woman follows.

"Freedom! Time to shine!" Al calls and watches as his energetic Pokemon drops to the ground, ready to win.

"Torch, to battle." Arthur calls, smirking as his Pokemon is let out.

"Laaaampent!"

"Hehe, soooo cooool! Vulpix let's have some fun!" The girl giggles as she sends out her Pokemon.

"Ninetales, let's go." The woman says as she releases her Pokemon onto the field. Both Fire types stand ready to battle.

"Begin!"

"Ruffy, Leer!" Alfred calls the instant the battle starts.

"Torch, Hex on Ninetales." Arthur joins in.

"Ru!" Taking to the air, Rufflet fixes it's gaze upon the pair, lowering both Fire Pokemon's Defense. At the same time, Lampent moves up and, eye's glowing purple, sends a glare at the Ninetales, causing waves of ghost type energy to engulf the Pokemon.

"Waaa!" The girl cries, taken by surprise at how quickly the pair attacked.

"Tch, Ninetales, Sunny Day! Freya, don't just stand there." The woman calls, griping to the girl for her lack of action.

"Oh, right! Vulpix, Flame Burst on Ninetales." She finally calls, remembering what to do.

As the Ninetales raises it's head and tails, the sunlight grows in strength, shining down on the battle field. At the same time the Vulpix moves to the side and turns on the Ninetales, releasing a ball of fire from it's mouth and firing it at it's partner. As the ball makes contact, it explode and small pieces bounce off in all directions, some hitting the Vulpix. But rather than the two taking damage, they both absorb the flames, their Fire type attacks power increasing by half in the process thanks to their Flash Fire abilities. Alfred smiles, knowing what's coming next and is ready to act.

"Now, Ninetales, Flamethrower on Lampent."

"Vulpix, Will-O-Wisp on the bird!" The pair call as soon as they gained the power boost.

"Ruffy, Now!" Al calls in time with their opponents.

As the pair of Fire Pokemon make their move, Rufflet dives down behind Lampent.

"Torch, block that with Inferno!" Arthur calls out as Rufflet seeks shelter.

As both the Will-O-Wisp and Flamethrower quickly approach Lampent, it creates the flames of the Inferno and pushes them out to intercept the attack. As the flames all collide, they explode and cancel each other out, creating a huge dust cloud.

"Ruffy, Wing Attack on Ninetales, go!"

"Torch, Energy Ball on Ninetales!"

Through the dust both Rufflet and an Energy Ball emerge and easily land two solid attacks on the Ninetales.

"Niiinnee." It whines at being hit.

Alfred smiles bright and he can see Arthur smirking too. Things are going just as they planned.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

 _"_ _ _Alright, so here's the plan. Our opponents in each of their matches have always used the same tactics to win. So we'll use that to our advantage."__

 _ _Arthur explains as they stand out in a field just outside of town. Behind him, Alfred can see Toris and Feliks working on their routines.__

 _"_ _ _Really? How do you know they won't change it up this time?" He asks, knowing that repetitive battle strategies make you predictable and easily to beat. Training with Arthur and his battles with Yao taught him that much.__

 _"_ _ _Heh, simple, because one of our opponents is a child." He smirks and Alfred knows that look by now. It's Arthur's 'I know I'm going to win' look. But even if Arthur thinks this explains everything, Alfred sure doesn't.__

 _ _Sighing Arthur continues, "The little girl of the pair. If you'd have payed attention to their battles, you would have noticed that she does what ever the woman tells her to do. Their battle strategy is preplanned, the girl is to young to own her own Pokémon or to make informed decisions in the heat of the moment. So they must have worked out a single plan to win all their battles with. A child that young would have too much difficulty memorising multiple battle plans so, they must only have one."__

 _"_ _ _Oh, yeah that makes sense. But how do you plan for us to beat them then? After all, their plan must be working to have made it this far."__

 _"_ _ _Isn't it obvious? We break down their plan. Without the woman to keep her right, the girl will be completely lost."__

 _"_ _ _Oooh! Yeah I get it now."__

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Tsk, Flamethrower again!"

"Aaah, Uh, Will-O-Wisp again too!" Their opponents call and it's like déjà vu, as the exact same thing as before happens, dodge, fire ball, explosion, dust cloud and, "Wing Attack!"

"Energy Ball." Just like before both attacks hit and the Ninetales is left reeling, barely able to remain standing. Just one more hit and it'll be finished.

"Alfred, if you would." Arthur smirks as he waves his hand out to the field.

"Sure, Ruffy, finish it with your strongest Peck!"

"Ruff!" Descending rapidly it comes in for the attack.

"Grr, Ninetales! Dodge and Feint Attack on that annoying Lampent!" The woman bellows, clearly frustrated.

Despite it's weakened state, the fire Pokemon moves at speed, avoiding Rufflet's incoming attack and rapidly approaches Lampent. Just before it reaches it, the Ninetales vanishes and reappears behind Torch, delivering a powerful kick with it's hind legs. Lampent is sent flying across the field, taking major damage from the super effective move.

"Ah!" Alfred gasps at the hit. This isn't good, the woman is going off plan, now they can't predict their moves! Plus, Torch...

"I know, but your fine." Alfred blinks as he hears Arthur mumbling next to him, looking over he only becomes more confused at seeing Arthur's eyes closed.

"Haha! Take that! Ninetales, again!" The woman shouts, completely ignoring the poor girl who no longer knows what she is supposed to do.

"Ar-"

"Energy Ball, into the ground, now."

Alfred watches in surprise as, even though Arthur's voice was barely above a whisper and Lampent is halfway across the field, Torch response as if he hears the call as clear as day. Forming and forcing the ball into the ground to create a dust cloud for cover, Lampent is able to dodge the attack and comes out the top of the cloud, safe. Arthur smiles and nods and, without him even saying so, Torch let's of another Energy Ball into the cloud.

"Niiiinnneee..." The Pokemon's cry can be heard along with a quiet thump. As the dust clears, the Ninetales is revealed, fainted from that last Energy Ball.

"Ninetales is no longer able to battle."

"Ggggrrrhhh!" The woman grumbles angrily as she recalls her Pokemon.

Now, only the poor girl remains.

"Ah! Now what do I do?" She cries.

"Call an attack dummy." The woman huffs.

"Oh, um, uh..."

Not waiting for the girl to get a hold of the situation Arthur begins the final stage of their plan.

"Torch, Confuse Ray." Arthur says, speaking at a normal volume again.

With out it's trainer telling it what to do, the Vulpix is helpless as it's hit with the attack becoming confused.

"Ah! Oh, no..." Alfred kinda feels bad as he can see the girl start to cry. But now's not the time for that so he joins Arthur to finish this quickly.

"Ruffy, Leer."

Defense now lowered for a second time and the Sunny Day wearing off, the pair give their final commands of the battle.

"Ruffy, Wing Attack!"

"Torch, Energy Ball."

Both attacks make contact with the poor confused Pokemon at the same time, defeating it.

"Vuuulll..."

"Vulpix is on longer able to battle. Rufflet and Lampent win, the match goes to Alfred and Arthur!"

The cheers go up, but they're quieter this time than before and Alfred can't help but feel bad. The woman showed no care for her partner and they willingly took advantage of that. He blinks as he sees Arthur walk out across the field to meet their opponents, before he quickly follows, wondering what Arthur is up to.

Kneeling before the girl he smiles, "You we're very good out there." He says gently as Alfred stands behind them watching.

"No you weren't, don't lie to her! She was useless." The woman angrily refutes, but Arthur ignores her.

"Freya, isn't it?" He continues to softly ask the sniffling girl. She nods tearily.

"Y-yeah."

"Do you know what I think? I think you'll be a __wonderful__ young trainer someday."

"R-really?" She asks, looking up and sounding hopeful. Arthur smiles kindly at her.

"Really. Here." He says offering her his hands.

She looks unsure for a moment before taking them. He then picks her up and swings her around to sit on his shoulders as he stands. And Alfred smiles as he watches Arthur walk out to the field and face the audience. Smiling brightly, Arthur calls out, "Everyone, please give a cheer for our __wonderful__ young opponent, Freya!"

The crowd whoops and cheers their loudest yet of the whole week. Al joins in right along side them as he claps and cheers for the girl, the audience standing and all clapping for her as well. Tears long forgotten, Freya now smiles brightly as she waves to the crowd. Out of the corner of his eye, Alfred can see the camera trained on the pair, the reported talking animatedly as she waves her hand out at the pair.

' _ _Okay, so the battle may not have been the best ever, but this sure makes up for it.__ ' Alfred knows, he'll never forget this.

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** Big brother Arthur for the win. And Arthur's cooking makes a reappearance. The fandom seems to forget that England __is__ actually said to be good at baking, just not cooking so there you go, legit fact's here people. And what's up with Arthur's battling here? Who knows...

Stay tuned for next time, the final contest and battle. Who will win?

Reviews are nice, so please?

Till next time, stay awesome!


	18. Contest final

This is it, the final day for the contest and tournament. In their room, the four friends are focused on the challenge ahead.

"I can't believe we're both up against Ivan." Toris says as he gathers his things. The two coordinators had been working on their routines till well past sunset, trying to prefect every single movement until they could no longer improve.

Alfred and Arthur for their part had been planning out multiple strategies to take on Ivan and his sister.

"It just goes to show how good of a trainer he is." Arthur says. It's meant come off as a passive remark, but the four know that the statement holds much truth.

"So we just have to beat him and prove he isn't as good as he likes to think!" Al proclaims, trying to ease the tension in the room.

"Like, totally!"

"Of course."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back our contest finalists, Ivan, Tara, Toris, Feliks and Chloe!" The announcer calls excitedly as the 5 walk out.

Toris is barely handling his nerves, even Feliks looks nervous out there, though that could be because he's now stuck between 3 strangers. The coordinators had mentioned that they were yet to speak to the other 3, especially Ivan. Alfred couldn't understand why they would be so afraid to talk to him, but now, seeing Ivan out on stage, Al can see the intimidating air he's giving off.

"Coordinators, you will have just 5 minutes to preform your routines, showing off your Pokemon while out doing your fellow contestants. And remember, extra points will be awarded for those who best show off in line with today's theme of harvest! With that being said, coordinators take your position."

With that, the announcer moves off stage as the coordinators move out to the 5 marked points on stage, forming a semicircle facing the audience. Once in position the trainers take up a pose and the lights are once again dimmed. Alfred holds his breath waiting for them to begin. Ivan on the far left, frozen in mid bow. The girl Tara to his left, curtsying. Toris in the centre, hand over his heart as if he were taking an oath, Pokéball in hand. Feliks to his side, arms spread wide, an easy smile plastered on his face. And the young woman Chloe, frozen in a half spin.

"Begin!"

As soon as the call is given all 5 begin to move, as if someone had simply hit un-pause on them all. Ivan completes his bow, sending out his Sunflora as he straightens. Tara, much the same as Ivan, completes her movement and sends out her Pokemon, a Fletchinder. Toris casts his arm out in front of him, releasing his Golett from the ball clutched in his hand. Feliks throws his arms up in the air and his Cutiefly appears seemingly out of nowhere. Chloe jumps and spins, sending out a Diglett.

Alfred stares questioningly at the Pokemon, as he can see they are wearing some sort of accessories.

"What's with all the clothes?" He whispers to Arthur.

"It's part of the themed battle. The coordinators can choose to dress their Pokemon with accessories and other adornments."

"Oh."

Looking back to the field, Al takes a closer look at the Pokemon. Ivan's Sunflora looks to be wearing some sort of body paint, it's leaves have been darkened and patches of golds and reds can be seen. The petals of it's head have also been given attention, they now have the look of a flower at the peek of bloom, ready to be picked. The whole look gives a feeling of an autumn harvest. The Fletchinder has been groomed and darker feathers seem to have been added, along with it holding a small branch of berries in its mouth. Golett appears to be wearing a garland of autumn flowers and brown leaves, its feet slightly muddy as if it had been walking through a field. Cutiefly too is holding a beautiful orange flower. The Diglett on the other hand doesn't appear to be wearing anything special. But he doesn't have much time to question it further as the 5 begin the battle.

"Sunny, Sunny Day if you would."

"Fletchinder, Acrobatics!"

"Golemas, Mud-Slap across the field!"

"Cutie, Fairy Wind!"

"Diglett, Earth Power!"

The first calls go out and the Pokemon quickly follow. As the fastest of the lot, Diglett is the first to get it's move off, causing powerful mini eruptions to surround it. Fletchinder is quick to follow, flying up and about, preforming many intricate loops and somersaults as it shows of it's aerial prowess. At the same time Cutiefly moves forward and sends out a beautiful pink glistening wind. Golett joins in, creating mud in it's hands and tossing it out over the stage before it. Finally Sunflora simply leans back gracefully and causes the sunlight to intensify on only it, creating a spotlight and effortlessly drawing attention to itself over the others.

The woman seems to grow annoyed with this and turns on Ivan.

"Diglett, Mud Bomb on Sunflora!"

"Sunny, dodge and use Petal Dance."

Turning the Diglett generates a large ball of mud and fires it at Sunflora. Even when attacking the move seems graceful, as the ball arcs through the air. Sunflora effortlessly dodges by side stepping the attack, twirling as it goes creating a shield of petals from any further attacks.

"Golemas, Rollout."

"Fletchinder, Flame Charge!"

"Cutie, Draining Kiss on Diglett!" Alfred's surprise that Feliks would decide to attack another, rather than stick to just showing of his Pokemon.

"Diglett, Protect!"

As Cutiefly moves down to attack, the Diglett quickly raises an all round barrier, preventing the Cutiefly from landing the hit. However, Cutie uses the barrier to it's advantage and releases the kiss on it, causing the attack to burst in a flurry of pink, helping to highlight it's natural rare colouration. Meanwhile Golett jumps into the Rollout and covers itself in the mud from before and leaving straight trenches in it's wake.

"Now, Golemas spin!"

Toris catches everyone off guard by having his Pokemon spin on the spot still using the Rollout. As a result off the high speed spinning, the mud it had picked up is thrown off in all directions.

"Quick, Cutie, Dodge!"

Being so small, Cutiefly is able to fly around the mud, making it look natural with it's fluid movements. Sunflora's petal shield takes the hit from the mud, petals dissipating on contact. Both the girls Pokemon however are not so lucky and are quickly covered in the mud.

"Gah! Grr, Diglett, Earthquake!" The woman calls in anger.

"Sunny, dodge and use Solar Beam on Diglett!"

"Ah!" Toris cries as the stage is shaken by the Ground type Pokémon and Golett is hit. As the attack begins, Sunflora quickly jumps up and uses Golett's head as a stepping stone to jump even higher. But once in the air.

"Fletchinder, use Me First on Diglett, now!"

Before Sunny can fire of it's attack the bird glows as it copies the move and launches a Solar Beam of it's own at Diglett, no time to charge needed thanks to the strong sunlight of the Sunny Day. With this, two Solar Beams, one after the other hit the Diglett and it faints.

"Ohhh, Diglett is down. Now only four of our contestants remain." The announcer says from somewhere off to the side.

"Cutie, Stun Spore!" Feliks suddenly calls, taking advantage of the distraction.

His Pokemon is quick to act, releasing a cloud of the spores out over the field.

"Golemas, Ice Beam!"

"Sunny, Petal Dance."

"Fletchinder, dodge!"

Aiming the beam straight up, Golett is freezes the spores as they descend, neutralising them while Sunflora uses a fast moving Petal Dance to blow the spores away. As the spores are blown about the Fletchinder is unable to dodge and is Paralysed, dropping to the ground.

"Ah, Fletchinder, Quick eat the berries!" The girl calls.

"Keep it up Golemas!"

"Hidden Power, Cutie!"

"Show off your beauty, Sunny."

As the bird lies on the ground it eats some of the berries from the branch in it's mouth. While it eats, Golett continues to use Ice Beam, now aimed at the field to build ice sculptures around it. Like for the second round, Cutiefly creates and holds the orbs of the Hidden Power at their formation stage, using their light to draw attention to itself. Sunflora also uses the petals from it's attack to spin and create a gentle feeling as they fall.

Suddenly the Fletchinder is back up, no longer Paralysed thanks to the Cheri Berries it ate.

"Now, Natural Gift on Sunflora!" The girl calls out.

Drawing power from the remaining berries, the bird sends an orb of fire power at the Grass Pokemon.

"Dodge and use Grass Whistle!"

"Let's go, Cutie!"

"Stomping Tantrum!"

Sunflora dodges, the orb misses and explodes behind the Pokemon and Sunflora breaks into a beautiful melody. Cutiefly releases the orbs around it out to explode in a multicoloured firework display as Golett quickly stomps on the ice, finishing it's art.

"And that's time!" The announcer calls, ending the contest, "My, that was an intense battle. But now is the time to decide on our winner. Ladies and gentlemen, beneath your seat you'll find a remote with 5 coloured buttons on it. Please use this to deliver your vote, remember you only get one, so pick the coordinator you thought did best out there. Vote green, for Ivan. Vote red, for Tara. Vote blue, for Toris and vote white for Feliks. Sadly, Chloe was nocked out of the competition so please only vote for these four."

With that said the audience quickly get to voting. Alfred's not sure who to vote for, he feels bad choosing either of his friends over the other. Al looks to Arthur to ask, but he sees him have no trouble making his choice.

"I can't choose." He complains.

"Well, you best decide quick or your vote won't be counted." Arthur warns.

Hearing that he doesn't have long, Al quickly makes his choice, feelings of favouritism put aside for the moment.

"Alright, times up! The votes are in, so let's see how they did." The announcer consults the up until now, unused screen at the back of the stage to show the results. A bar slowly fills up for each of them, surprisingly Ivan and Feliks are tied, with Toris a close second and Tara not far behind.

"Now for the judges votes, which each count as 5."

The bars rise, a vote each to Ivan, Toris and Feliks.

"And finally, the scores for best keeping with the theme!"

It's agonising as Alfred watches, willing the bars to rise. 7 points go to Toris, 5 to Ivan, 3 to Feliks and 1 to Tara. It's close, only a single point difference but amazingly, Toris wins.

Alfred stares, they all do, amazed at the close victory before all hell breaks loose and the crowd goes wild with cheers and shouts, all quickly standing to give their praise. On stage Toris seems just as shocked as he continues to stare at the score board.

"Well, it looks like we have our winners, Toris and his wonderful Golett!" The announcer cries over the noise. The crowd quickly settling to let him continue.

"Judges, care to share your thoughts on this?" Alfred can see the three nod.

"Yes," The first Mr. Wick says, "Though it was a tough decision, we believe Toris here was simply the better contender this time. Toris, you remained calm through out the battle and, you stayed true to the theme above all else." He says, nodding to the ice sculptures. The mud strips acting as the field, ice flowers and plants sprout from the stage, ready to be harvested.

"Indeed," Nurse Joy adds, "you used your Pokemon's skills to create a wonderful harvest scene while also remaining focused on the battle around you."

"Even though all the other's had turned to using direct attacks on each other, you stayed true to your plan, and it shows." The last judge, Mr. Oxenstierna, praises.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Contest over, the hall is cleared to prepare for the up coming final. Before their battle, Alfred and Arthur go to congratulate their friends.

"Toris!" Al calls, waving to the pair as they meet them outside.

"A-ah, Hello, Alfred." Poor guy looks shellshocked.

"Hey, Al, Art!" Feliks calls happily as they walk up, Arthur groans at the nickname but says nothing, not wanting to spoil the mood.

"Dudes! That. Was. Amazing!"

"Hehe, I know, right? We were, like, so totally on fire out there! An T even beat Ivan!"

"I know!"

The pair continue to gush. Beside them Arthur quietly walks Toris away.

"But just remember, we've kept up our end. Now you guys, like, so totally __have__ to beat Ivan. That'll show him!"

"Yeah!"

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** So that's the contest done, now for the final battle. Oh, Ivan is going to be extra hard now after this loss. Who did you think was going to win? But man, that was hard to write, but I got there in the end so woo!

Next time, Ivan and Natalia vs. Alfred and Arthur! Who will win? Stay tuned!

Reviews are love!

Till next time, stay awesome!


	19. Tournament final

"Alfred and Arthur, it's almost time." The announcer says as he pops his head back stage. Out on the field, the other two semifinalists are finishing up to decide third place.

"Ready?" Arthur asks as they stand waiting to go out.

"Yup!"

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our tag team battle tournament finalists, Ivan and Natalia, and their opponents, Alfred and Arthur!"

Hearing the call the pair walk out, across from them they can see Ivan and his sister coming out as well. Ivan is smiling casually but his sister looks completely serious.

"Freedom, time to shine!"

"Torch, to battle."

As they send out their Pokemon Alfred can see a flickering in Ivan's facial expression, becoming slightly more serious but still smiling.

"It's time to have some fun, Snowy."

"Help big brother win, Frost!"

Alfred watches as the two powerful Ice types come out, Ivan's Abomasnow and Natalie's Walrein.

"Aaabooomaaa!" The Pokemon cries as it's ability, Snow Warning, actives, causing Hail to begin falling on the stage.

"Ruuu..." Rufflet cries, not liking the weather change.

"Brrr! Yeah, I'm with you Ruffy, I hate the cold!" Al complains as he pulls his jacket closer around him.

"Ah, What is the matter Alfred, you cannot take the cold hmm?" Ivan questions from across the field, tilting his head and putting on an innocent smile.

"Don't let him get you worked up. Remember the plan, don't give them anything." Arthur reminds from his side.

Al looks to him and nods, even though Arthur only has his cloak to protect him, he doesn't pull it closer, despite the fact Alfred can see him shivering slightly.

"Begin!"

"Ruffy, Leer!"

"Torch, Confuse Ray on Abomasnow."

Just like they had discussed, the pair move to weaken their opponents right off the bat. However, the sibling duo also have a plan of their own.

"Frost, Protect brother!"

"Snowy, Mist please."

As Rufflet and Torch both move up to attack, the Walrein quickly dives on front of Abomasnow and raises an all round barrier with Protect. From this position the Protect prevents both the Leer and the Confuse Ray from hitting. Behind Walrein, as it protects them both, Abomasnow releases a cloud of mist from it's mouth, shrouding their side of the field.

"Ah!" Alfred knows Arthur had said that this could happen, he just didn't think it'd be so soon. He had hoped that they could get off at least one Leer, but now with that Mist, they can't cause any status changes. Add to that...

"Ru..."

"Lamp..."

Both Rufflet and Lampent are constantly taking damage from the hail, just like with the Sandstorm before.

"Torch, Energy Ball on Walrein."

Thankfully Arthur doesn't seem fazed by all this in the least, something Alfred is grateful for.

"Frost, block with Brine!"

Lampent quickly moves up, forming the ball in it's arms and fires it at the Walrein. Not moving from it's protective spot, the ice Pokemon simply raises it's head and shoots a jet of salty water from it's mouth, blocking the Energy Ball in it's stream and causing the attack to explode.

"Ruffy, get behind them and use Fury Attack on Abomasnow!"

"Sister together," The girl nods, and they both call "Blizzard."

Moving to the side, Walrein joins Abomasnow as they both release a power full double Blizzard from their mouths. With the hail, it's impossible to dodge and Rufflet is blasted back by the force of the attack.

"Now, Torch!" Arthur suddenly calls.

Despite the force of the attack, as their opponents were focused on Rufflet, Lampent had managed to push through the Blizzards and get behind Abomasnow. From it's position, Alfred can just about see Torch creating the fire of it's Inferno attack.

"Snowy, Wood Hammer!"

Ivan calls and, just before Torch get's the attack off, it is suddenly slammed into the ground and pinned there by the force of Abomasnow's arm.

"Aboma..." It grunts as it suffers the recoil damage from the powerful attack.

"That may work on other's but not me." Ivan casually says as he watches his Pokemon pin the ghost.

Alfred stares, he quickly looks to Arthur, only to find the man smirking again.

"Heh, bad move Ivan. I __really__ wouldn't have done that if I were you."

Arthur says this so calmly it's almost terrifying. Looking back out to the field Alfred's not sure what he means, until he see Abomasnow flash with fire, burned.

"Torch, Hex!"

Grabbing hold of Abomasnow's arm that is pinning it, Lampent's eyes glow purple and waves of ghost type energy engulf the ice Pokemon.

"Snoooowww!" It cries as it pulls back from the hit, power now doubled thanks to the burn.

Once free Lampent quickly climbs back into the air.

"Ah." Ivan says in understanding. By pinning Lampent, he accidentally activated it's ability, Flame Body. An over sight on his part, but no matter. Even as Abomasnow is attacked, his sister is quick to move.

"Brine!"

As Lampent is focused on getting away, Walrein aims to strike it with a close range attack.

"Ruffy, Wing Attack!"

But before the ice Pokemon can fire, Rufflet strikes it on the head with a strong Wing Attack, causing it to miss Lampent.

"Thanks."

"Don't worry, I got your back." The four separate back to a safe distance.

"Ruu..."

"L-Lam..." Their Pokemon whine, as they feel the hail cause them more damage, across from them Abomasnow too, takes damage from it's burn. Walrein, however, glows slightly as it heals from the falling hail.

"Hmph, that Walrein is going to be an issue. As long as this hailstorm keeps up, it'll keep healing."

"It's ability, right?" Alfred asks. He remembers Arthur mentioning that before.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

 _"_ _ _Alright, now pay attention Alfred this is important. The reason Ivan and Natalia are so strong is because they work well together. And not just them, but their Pokemon too. Even their Pokemon's abilities benefit each other, Abomasnow's Snow Warning, causes hail to begin falling when it comes out, and Walrein's Ice Body, allows it to heal constantly when it's hailing."__

 _"_ _ _Oh, won't that make it hard to defeat?"__

 _"_ _ _Yes, but I have a plan."__

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Yes. But for now, stick to the plan, focus on Ivan."

"Got ya! Ruffy, Peck than Abomasnow!"

"Frost, Protect brother!"

Once again, Walrein moves in front of Abomasnow and raises it's barrier. However, this time the pair were expecting the move and Rufflet easily twists and spins around the Protect to strike it's target.

"Snowy, Blizzard."

"Torch!"

Trapped between the pair, Rufflet has nowhere to go. But as the Abomasnow releases the attack, the Blizzard is intercepted from above by the fire of Torch's Inferno. Rufflet is blown out from the blast of the two attacks mixing, but is otherwise unharmed.

Alfred sighs in relief, that was a little too close.

"Ah, you are a lot better than I thought." Ivan remarks.

"You still won't win." Natalia adds, "Frost, Brine on Lampent."

"Ruffy, Wing Attack Abomasnow!"

"Snowy, Wood Hammer."

"Torch, dodge and use Inferno on Walrein!"

Moving together, Rufflet and Lampent cross paths in the air, making it difficult for Walrein to aim, allowing Torch to easily dodge the attack. As Rufflet moves down, so too does Torch, the pair moving in close to their targets and striking successfully, Lampent from the front, and Rufflet after swooping low to dodge the arm of Abomasnow.

"Waaaalll..." The Walrein cries as the fire attack leaves it with a burn, now the healing from the hail will be cancelled out by the damage from the burn.

"Ruffy, now Fury Attack on Walrein!"

"Torch, Hex on Walrein!"

Looping in the air, Rufflet doubles back and unleashes a barrage of attacks on the ice Pokemon. At the same time, Torch moves up and, like before, glares at the Walrein, it's power doubled from the burn it now has.

"Frost, Rock Tomb on Rufflet!"

"Snowy, Ingrain."

"Ah, Ruffy get out of there!"

Al calls but is too late. As Rufflet is still so close from attacking, Walrein easily traps it under the large stones it generates and throws at Ruffy.

"Ruffy!"

Meanwhile Abomasnow plunges it's roots into the ground, sucking up energy and healing itself.

"Torch, Energy Ball on those rocks, get Rufflet out of there!" Arthur calls to help.

"Sister," The siblings nod to each other, "Blizzard!" They call as one.

As Lampent forms it's attack, the pair of Ice type Pokémon releases their powerful double Blizzard once more and Torch is pushed back by the force, taking longer to focus and aim the ball. Rufflet, still trapped in the rocks, get's hit with the full force of the attack, the stones freezing over in the process.

Just as the Blizzard ends, Lampent manages to fire it's Energy Ball and blast apart the stones, but it's too late. Now revealed, Rufflet lies frozen, fainted within the rocks.

"Rufflet is no longer able to battle."

The refs call barely registers to Alfred as he stares at his poor defeated partner.

"Ruffy... no..."

' _ _No, no! We were supposed to win! We... we__ promise __Feliks and Toris we would...__ ' Alfred bows his head as he recalls Rufflet to it's pokeball.

"Sorry, Al."

Alfred snaps his head back up at that. ' _ _Why's Artie apologising? I'm the one that should be apologising for losing.__ '

"Arti-"

"It's my fault. If I had __just__ been quicker... Rufflet wouldn't..."

Alfred is surprise by the... anger he can here in Arthur's voice, though, he's not sure why.

"But don't worry. We're still going to win this. Right Torch?"

"Laaaaampent!"

He blinks at the sudden change, one second Arthur sounded __so__ angry, the next, he's smiling.

"Well, now it's just us against you, Arthur. Hehe, but I don't think even __you__ are strong enough to beat us on your own."

"Hah, oooh, you have know idea. Torch!"

"Lamp?"

"No more holding back."

"Laaaammmmpent!"

Alfred's not sure what to make of this. Does that mean all this time Arthur's been holding back, or is he just saying that because he's getting serious? Either way, he watches the fight, giving Arthur and Torch all the support he can.

"Hehe, we'll see. Snowy, Blizzard."

"Frost, Blizzard!"

Al watches as the two send out there strongest combination once more. But is surprised when Arthur doesn't give a command, looking over, he sees his friend has his eyes closed.

' _ _Wait, didn't he do this before?__ '

"Waaaallll!" Alfred hears the crowd gasp and the Pokemon cry out. Looking back to the field, Torch is somehow behind the pair, looking untouched by the Blizzard, a dust cloud from an explosion rising up from the Walrein's back.

"Wha?"

But he doesn't have time to finish his question, as Torch quickly transitions into Hex and causes further damage to Walrein.

"Waaaallll..."

The ice Pokemon is now barely standing, the siblings must also be in shock from the quick succession of attacks, as they only now give out their next command.

"Snowy, Wood Hammer! Pin Lampent!" Ivan calls sounding angry at how much damage Torch has caused to his sisters Pokemon so quickly.

' _ _This doesn't make sense...__ ' Al ponders as he watches, looking between Arthur and Torch. Arthur still has his eyes closed and hasn't said a word, yet Torch is reacting faster than ever as if he's being told exactly what to do. ' _ _But Arthur must be giving command somehow... maybe visual cues?__ ' He thinks, but that can't be right, Arthur can't see with his eyes closed and even with his back to them, Lampent still appears to be following some sort of command.

"Laaaaa!" Torch cries out as it's hit and pinned once more and, strangely, Alfred can see Arthur flinching back as if he was hit. His eyes snap open and he glares out at the field, but still doesn't speak.

"Frost, Rock Tomb!" Al hears Natalia call, planning to trap Lampent while Abomasnow has it pinned.

"I know... wait for it..." He can just about hear Arthur whispering.

"Now."

As Walrein forms the rocks, ready to drop them on Lampent, Torch's eyes glow and it uses Hex once more on it.

"Waaaalllll..." Crying out in pain, Walrein faints, rocks of it's attack, now no longer controlled, fall from their suspension above the pair and hit Abomasnow instead.

"Snnooooowww." It grunts as it's hit and, taking advantage of the situation, Lampent quickly uses Hex again, this time on Abomasnow, freeing itself.

"Abmaaa..."

"Laaaammmppp..."

"Walrein is on longer able to battle." The Ref calls as Natalia huffs annoyed and recalls her Pokemon.

"Sorry, big brother." She quietly apologises.

"No, do not fret. It seems we may have underestimated our opponents. Well Arthur, you certainly are full of surprises. Hmm, but I do not think you can win, your Pokemon doesn't look to be doing to well."

It's true, Alfred can see that Torch is struggling, he's no doubt taken major damage from that last hit, plus the accumulated damage from the hail, he really can't take much more of this. And, oddly, beside him Arthur is also breathing heavily.

"We're not done yet! Torch!"

"Laaaammm!"

Diving forward, Lampent creates another flame of Inferno and fires it at Abomasnow.

"Snowy, Blizzard!"

The two attacks are their most powerful yet, their meeting creates a huge explosion that blasts the two apart. A large dust cloud is caused by the blast and, Alfred sees a green light passing through the cloud as the blast force can still be felt and hears Abomasnow cry out.

"Snnnoooowww..."

Torch must have sent of an Energy Ball even while being blasted back. It's an agonising wait for the cloud to clear and the pair to become visible again.

"Both Abomasnow and Lampent are on longer able to continue! The match is a draw!" Silence follows.

The sound of Arthur dropping to the ground beside him breaks the spell, and the crowd cheer. Alfred quickly drops to his knees beside him and worriedly looks over his friend.

' _ _Why does he look so exhausted?__ '

"Arthur?"

"Fine, Fine." He mumbles from his slumped position sitting on the ground, waving his hand at Al, though the movement is sluggish and slow. Al watches as he recalls Torch.

"Hah, sorry, you did well." He says to his Pokemon.

"Arthur? That was quite some battle." The pair look up to see Ivan and his sister standing in front of them.

"Heh, Yeah." Arthur says, still sounding breathless.

"You didn't suck." Natalia simply says.

"A good match." Ivan nods as he offers his hand, Arthur reaching up to take it, they shake, and in the background the crowd cheers even louder.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

After the match, there is a short break to set up for the awards ceremony. Back stage, they meet up with Feliks and Toris while Nurse Joy tends to their Pokemon. Alfred's also surprise to see Freya and Blanche again, they must have won the battle for third place.

"OMG! Guys! You, like, so totally rocked out there!" Feliks cries, unable to contain himself as he bounds over to the pair.

"I was on the edge of my seat." Toris adds as he joins them.

"You guys were soooooo cooooool!" Freya squeals up at them.

"Thanks guys, but it was really all Artie. We would have definitely lost if it weren't for him."

"Alfred?"

"Yeah?"

"Come over here." Alfred, confused, approaches Arthur. The man had dropped into the nearest seat as soon as they made it into the room.

"Oooowwww!" He complains, rubbing the back of his head where Arthur had ruthlessly hit him, "What was that for?!"

"One, for calling me that __horrible__ nickname. Two, for saying that. It wasn't just me who fought, without you, we never would have stood a chance. You and Ruffy are just as much a part of our draw as Torch and I are." He says smiling slightly.

"It's true." Ivan agrees, "But, I am curious about how you battled out there, I have never seen anything quite like it."

"Yeah," Al nods, he too has been wondering about that, "you barely spoke and sometimes you had your eyes closed."

"Ah! I have heard about something like this before." Toris suddenly jumps in.

"Really?"

"Yes. Oh, what was it called..." Toris frowns as he tries to remember.

"It's nothing!" Arthur snaps angrily, suddenly very defensive.

"But..."

"It's. Nothing. Drop it." He bites out, daring anyone to continue with his eyes. An awkward silence descends on them all.

"Alright, everyone. It's almost time, Nurse Joy are you ready?" The announcer asks as he comes in.

"Yes, I'm all done here." She says as she brings their Pokemon over, Ruffy quick to perch himself back on Alfred's head. Torch quickly dives under Arthur's cloak, back to his usual fearful self now that their not battling.

"Laaa..."

"Ah, sorry boy." Arthur apologises for some reason.

"Alright, then, there's just one more thing..."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back to the stage one last time, our victors of Poké Week. First the Contest. Third place goes to, Feliks Łukasiewicz and his Cutiefly! Second place goes to, Ivan Braginsk and his Sunflora! And of course first place goes to the wonderful, Toris Laurinaitis and his amazing Golett. Next the tag battle tournament. Third place goes to, Freya Easeil and Blanche Ashwood and their partners, Vulpix and Ninetales! And tied for first place, Ivan Braginsk and his sister Natalia Arlovskaya, with their partners, Abomasnow and Walrein. And finally, Alfred Jones and Arthur Kirkland, with their partners, Rufflet and Lampent!"

They all walk out with their Pokemon as they're called, Ivan standing with his sister in the middle, Toris to his side, Feliks beside him. Alfred stands to Natalia's side, Arthur then Freya and Blanche on the other. Mr. wick presents the Contest winners with their prizes first.

"Feliks, very well done." He says as he presents him with a participation ribbon and 1,000 credits.

"Ivan, that was a very close contest out there, very well done." He too is given a participation ribbon and 2,000 credits.

"Toris, a most excellent show out there today, please know that you deserve this." To Toris he gives the maroon and grass green Open contest ribbon and 4,000 credits.

Stepping back, Mr. Oxenstierna takes over to present the tournament winners their prizes.

"You did well." He says as he give Freya and Blanche a selection of berries and 1,000 credits.

Coming over to the four of them, the man nods, and Alfred suddenly feels very proud.

"That was a great battle, you all did well." He moves to Ivan first, giving him a Choice Scarf and 3,000 credits between him and his sister. He then goes over to Arthur, who no longer looks exhausted, and presents him with a Dawn Stone and another 3,000 credits for them both. Alfred blinks as the man leans over and whisper something in Arthur's ear that makes him go still, before pulling back and patting him on the shoulder nodding.

"And that's it folks! Once again, thank you all for joining us for this amazing week!"

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** And that's it! So the tournament end's in a draw, who saw that coming? So the boy's now have more money! And a dawn stone. And what did Sweden say?

Next time, we're back on the road to the next gym!

Review's are always appreciated.

Till next time, stay awesome!


	20. On the road again

As the sun shines high in the sky, the four friends stand outside the Pokemon center, ready to depart.

"So, what are you guy's going to do now?" Al asks the coordinators.

"Isn't obvious? Off to the next contest! We, so, like, have to win a ribbon now." Feliks proudly proclaims as if he was the first place winner.

"It's true. If we want to make it into the next master class, we need to keep moving or we won't making to the next contest on time." Toris explains.

"Well, where's the next contest then?"

"Lux City."

"Oh, Hey! That's not far from the farm!"

"Oh, Yeah, that's like, where you grew up right?"

"Yeah. If you're going that way, say hi to my folks for me, and Mattie too. My mom makes the _best_ berry pie you've ever had." Alfred's mouth is watering just thinking about his moms cooking again.

"Alright! Then it's decided, we so totally have to visit for some of that awesome pie!" Feliks too, is beginning to drool at the idea.

"Ah, you are still here. Good, I thought I might have missed you." Ivan suddenly says coming out of the center behind them. Feliks quickly dives behind Toris to hide from the man.

"Ah, Hello Ivan." Arthur nods to the tall man.

"Hello," he says back, "I didn't have the chance to ask before, but where might you be heading next?"

"The National Park, to the next gym!" Al happily answers.

"The gym, hmm? Ah! In that case, please give this to the gym leader when you see her, she'll know who it's from." He says as he pulls a small parcel out of his bag. The box is no bigger than his hand, and is wrapped in a brightly coloured ribbon. Alfred looks it over before Arthur takes it from him, slipping it safely into on of the many compartments of his bag.

"I'll make sure it's delivered safely." He says, patting the bag.

"For now, I wish you the best of luck." At this, Ivan grabs the pair in a strong bear hug before stepping back, "But now we must be off, Sister?"

"Yes, big brother?" Natalia asks, materialising next to Ivan seemingly out of nowhere.

"Shall we be off?" She nods, sending a somewhat friendly glare at the pair before they depart.

"Well, we best be off too." Toris says as Feliks comes out of hiding.

"Alright, see you guys around."

The four wave as they part ways.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Outside town, Alfred decides to let Bouffy out to enjoy some fresh air.

"Boouuu!" He cries happily once out.

"Ruuufff!" Rufflet cries as he moves off from Alfred's head to perch on Bouffalant's horn.

"Hehe, Alright guy's, let's enjoy this open space, what do you say?"

"Bouuu!"

"Ruu!"

"Hahaha!" Al laughs as he runs ahead, his Pokemon joining him.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"So, How far is it to the Park?"

"Well, judging by the map... I'd say another day or two." Arthur says as the pair sit down for a lunch break, while he looks over the map in Al's dex as he cooks. Their Pokemon relaxing in the field around them.

"Hey, what do you think is in that box Ivan gave us?"

"Probably a gift of some sort."

"What, like, as in friendly or..."

"Friendly." Arthur says confidently.

Still, curiosity gets the better of him and he looks over at Arthur's bag, at the compartment where he knows the box is. He quickly glances to Arthur, he's completely focused on cooking, so Al sneaks over to the bag. One quick peak won't hurt...

"Pum! Pum, Pumpka!" Pumpkin suddenly appears in front of Al's face, preventing him from getting to the bag unnoticed.

"Wah! Geez, Pumpkin, give me a heart attack why don't you." He grumbles as he sits back.

"Ivan entrusted us to deliver that, _not_ to go poking around in his business." Arthur calmly scolds, not looking away from his cooking.

"Okay, okay." Alfred says as he raises his hands and backs away.

"Pum." Pumpkaboo nods as she floats back over to join Arthur.

Flopping back, Al looks up to the cloudy sky. Winter is approaching, he can tell by the chill in the air and the western wind blowing the clouds along. Bored, he decides to cloud watch until foods ready. He dosn't notice himself drifting off, thoughts of home filling his mind.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

 _Sitting on the couch Al leans forward, engrossed in the battle happening on screen._

 _"_ ** _Ferrothorn, Gyro Ball!_** _"_

 _"_ ** _Che, Fire Blast!_** _"_

 _The two members of the elite for, locked in an intense battle, call out their commands. Houndoom, charges across the field using it's superior speed to easily keep away from the spinning Ferrothorn. Skidding to a halt behind the Grass and Steal type Pokémon, The Houndoom swiftly launches a powerful Fire Blast from it's mouth._

 _"_ ** _Power Whip into the ground now!_** _"_

 _Swinging it's vine legs harshly into the field, Ferrothorn blasts dirt into the air, blocking the fire attack from landing._

 _"_ ** _Now, Rollout!_** _"_

 _Bursting out of the dirt cloud, the Steal Pokemon roughly smacks into the Houndoom, sending it flying._

 _"_ ** _Houndoom can no longer continue, Ferrothorn wins. The match goes to Ludwig!_** _"_

 _"Aww man! I really thought Lovino was gonna win this time!" Al cries out as the match ends._

 _"Hehe, that's 200 for me." Mattie laughs from his side, hand out, waiting for his twin to pay up._

 _"Damn it." He grumbles as he hands over the money._

 _"But he clearly had the type advantage, how could he lose?"_

 _"I told you, Lovino is to much of a hothead, he's all about straight up attacking without thinking ahead."_

 _"Boys?" Their mother calls from the kitchen._

 _"Yeah?" They asks as the come through to her calling._

 _"It's time to round up the Miltank. Could you go find your father and Gilbert please?"_

 _"Sure thing mom!"_

 _With that the pair head out to the ranch, looking for the others to begin the weekly round up._

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Al..."

A call above him pulls Alfred from his dream, the smell of burnt food drifting over causes him to open his eyes.

"Huh? Artie?"

Frowning, Arthur delivers a swift kick to Al's side for the nickname before wandering back over to the camp. Sitting up, Al watches as he piles some sort of stew into two bowls. He quickly climbs to his feet and joins his friend, stomach rumbling.

Sitting down to eat, Alfred ponders his dream. It's been a while since he left home... maybe he should call them at the next center... Now that he thinks about it, Arthur hasn't ever mentioned his home, besides his brothers.

"Hey Art-" The man glares at him, "-hur, don't you miss home? You've been traveling for a while right, don't you ever think of going back?" Alfred's not sure why, but Arthur grows still at that and pales slightly.

"Why do you ask?" He questions, dodging answering.

"Well, cause I've been thinking on how long I've been gone, and, well, I miss home."

"Hmm, it's natural to feel homesick. But journeying is about leaving home and finding your own way in life, at least, that's how I see it."

"Finding my own way?" Arthur nods.

"You left to become a Pokemon master, right? That's not something you can do staying at home, but it's also not something anyone can tell you how to do. It's a goal you must work towards, learning as you go and becoming better day by day."

"Yeah! Your right!" Al nods happily. Arthur's right, even if he misses home, he's still along way from his goal. But he's getting closer day by day, just look at him now, sitting completely at ease with three ghost Pokemon. He even was beginning to be completely fine around Golett, even if it was from a distance. And he's made a bunch of friends, Arthur, Feliks, Toris, even Ivan.

"So is that why you left, too become a ghost type master I mean. Because you couldn't do that at home?"

"Yes..." Arthur answers slowly before sighing, "Though... that's not the only reason I left."

"It's not?"

"No... Al, truth is... I... I ran away."

"Wait, what?" Al stares. He never would have thought _Arthur_ of all people to have run away from home, "why?" Arthur looks away from his questioning stare.

"Look, I don't want to talk about it." He snaps, becoming defensive again. He tugs almost subconsciously at his cloak before abruptly standing and walking away.

"Pum? Pum, ka!" Pumpkin cries out as she quickly follows after him.

' _Must be a touchy subject. Is that why he doesn't talk about home?_ ' Alfred questions within his mind, wondering what happened to make Arthur like this.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

The pair spend the next few days traveling in relative comfort. Though...

"Ahahahahaha." Arthur laughs as they walk.

"It's not funny!" Al cries, still pulling mud and grass from his hair.

" _Oh_ , it is. It _really_ is. Ahaha." Arthur continues to laugh at Alfred's state.

"Misssss."

"Urgh..." He grumbles as Casper joins in.

He had just wanted to catch that Drilbur, but no. The thing, as soon as it realised Alfred's intentions, had used Mud-Slap and Dig like no one's business. Now both he and his Pokemon were covered in mud and grass, with nothing to show for it. And Arthur had just stood there and laughed as the Pokemon gave him the run around.

Miserable from the failure and being made fun of, he doesn't even notice where there going until he nearly walks into Arthur's back as he abruptly stops.

"Here we go." Al looks up from trying to pull a particularly large piece of drying mud from his hair to see where Arthur has lead them.

A gentle river greets him, flowing through the small valley he now finds himself in.

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

"Huh?" Arthur rolls his eyes.

"Go clean up, idiot." He says as he lightly smacks him on the back of the head, causing bits of mud and grass to fall out.

"Oh, right."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Now clean Alfred takes the time to look around. Behind them a large gently sloping hill meets him. They must have walked down it without him noticing. Looking forwards, he can see the sprinkling of trees becoming more dense. So, they must be heading into another forest soon. Which means...

"Hey, is that the National Park?"

"Yes, see the gate entrance up ahead?"

Squinting at the tree line, he can just about see the tall wire fence that surrounds the park, the entrance a barely visible gap from this distance.

"Sweet! New badge, here I come!" Al cries as he jumps up, running off to enter the park.

"Idiot." Arthur chuckles behind him as he and their Pokemon follow.

* * *

 **Authors notes:** So the friends have parted ways, but who knows, they may meet up again. Not much really happens here, buuuut, now you know who two of the elite four are. And Canada makes a reappearance, even if it is just in a dream flashback thing.

So next time, we're entering the Terra Gorge National Park. What shenanigans will happen here? Stay tune to find out!

R & R people. And happy Guy Fawkes Night everyone! Okay I'm going to go watch some fireworks now.

Till next time, stay awesome!


	21. Into the National Park

Alfred stares up at the metal sign arching over the entrance to the park, written across it:

 **Terra Gorge**

 **National Park**

Stretching out on both sides as far as he can see is the 20 foot high fence. The large metal gates are closed over, odd since he could have sworn that they were open before.

"So, the next gym is somewhere in here?" He asks, mostly to himself.

"Yes." Arthur answers from behind him, Pokemon casually trailing behind them.

"So... uh, how do we get in?" Looking to the solid gates, Al watches as Arthur walks up and swipes his trainer card in a panel built into the fence just right of the gates. The screen lights up and shows Arthur's details and he taps a few keys and turns to Al.

"Alright, your card?"

"Oh, sure." Quickly walking up he swipes his card as well and watches as his info appears on screen as well. Arthur taps a few more keys, Alfred catching glimpses of the screens he easily navigates, party size, reason for visiting and so on. On the last screen Arthur pauses and thinks for a moment, before making his choice. The panel buzzes electronically before giving a green light and dropping something out of the slot in the bottom, beside them, the gates give a sound of a lock being released and slowly swing open. Arthur takes the items from the panel and hands some to Alfred, an entry pass and 3 green pokeballs.

"So how long do you think it'll take to get to the gym?" He asks as he pockets the items.

"Well, so long as we stay on the path, we should make it to the park centre in a few days."

"A few days?!" Al exclaims, Arthur sighing and rolling his eyes.

"Yes, Al, a few days. This _is_ the National Park." He says as he walks through the gate, unfazed by Alfred shock.

"Just how big is the park anyway?" Alfred is quick to follow, the gates closing behind them.

"Very. After all, the Gorge _is_ at it's centre, and that's several miles long on its own. The park itself is a nature reserve for a number of rare Pokémon species. Their's a quota on the number of Pokemon of each species that can be caught each year, so any Pokemon you catch here has to be specially registered at the park centre. Other wise you could be fined or even prosecuted for attempted poaching."

"Really?"

"Only if you don't clear your catch, other wise, it's completely fine to catch any Pokemon you want here. That's what the pass and pokeballs are for, so long as you're in here, you can only use those Park balls."

"Oh."

"And since we're heading to the centre anyway, it'll be fine."

"Geez, how do you know all of this? I just thought the park was a huge wilderness full of awesome Pokémon, didn't know that I could get in so much trouble for catching something here." Alfred grumbles as they walk. The trees here are much taller that those back at the Dark Woods, making him feel tiny in comparison. Looking around, the place is much lighter than the dullness that the other woods had, the stone path reverberates their footsteps as they walk. The path itself is quite wide, enough space to easily drive two cars down, lined with the trees, besides the fence, it seems to be the only man made thing for miles around.

"Hmm," Arthur hums, drawing his attention back to the man, "Well, it was probably a bit before your time, but do you remember The Frozen Spring?" He says this as if there were more than just a 4 year age gap between them, but, he does have a point.

"Dude, I was like, 2 then, course I don't remember."

"Didn't think so."

" _But_ , I _do_ remember dad telling me about it. The eastern winds didn't bring the warmer air with them like they should have, and a storm system up north brought the cold air from the mountains down. So the whole region right up to the coast line out east was covered in snow."

"Yes, well, the cold had a major effect on the wildlife, those that raised their young on the spring grasses couldn't find enough food and the populations suffered as a result. And not just them, those that relied on the large number of grazers also suffered as their was less to hunt. On it's own, this wouldn't have been too bad, but at the time, poachers were taking advantage of all the vulnerable Pokemon caught out in the cold, causing mass crashes in the numbers of rare species."

"Yeah, I remember dad saying how the farm suffered too. We couldn't grow out crops in the cold, so the wild Pokémon that relied on the extras from our fields couldn't find enough food and crammed into the farm. We had to buy loads of Pokémon food to help feed them all. But what's that got to do with anything?"

"The Frozen Spring was the reason that the park has been fenced off, to help the Pokemon bounce back and protect them from poachers. For the first 3 years, no one but the park rangers were allowed in, and the catching quota wasn't introduced for another 2."

"Oh, I get it. So the park was made to help save the Pokemon living here."

"Exactly."

Looking around at all the greenery and sounds of live coming from all around them, Alfred can't imagine this place covered with ice and snow, or being so empty that they had to fence the place of to bring the numbers back up.

"Hey, isn't there a story that an Articuno was the cause of it?"

"Maybe. Though, that would have to be one very angry Articuno to freeze over the entire region."

"Burr, remind me to never piss off one then?"

"Hehe, sure, if we're ever lucky enough to see one." Arthur laughs at the idea, heading further down the path.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Night fall comes a lot quicker these days, and in the forest it's even more noticeable, forcing the pair to make camp for the night before it becomes to dark too see.

"Al, grab some fire wood, I'll go find us some fresh water." Arthur tells him as he drops his bag by a tree and taking out his water bottle, letting pumpkaboo out to help with the search. Her internal light shining the way as they go.

"Sure thing, come on Ruffy." He says as he too, drops his bag and hands over his bottle before he gets to searching, Rufflet flying along side him.

The sun must have dropped below the horizon by now, as the last remaining lights in the sky are quickly fading. Not wandering too far for fear of getting lost, Al circles around the trees near where their bags sit, picking up sticks and rocks to make a campfire. In the quiet he can he the trees above rustling. At first he dismisses it as the wind, or the forest Pokemon, but, the sounds are _definitely_ getting closer. A particularly loud snap of branches above his head makes him drop his pile and spin around, looking up to where the sounds are coming from.

"H-hello?" He calls up to the trees.

"Ru?"

"Ruffy, go see what's up there." He cautiously watches as his Pokemon nods and flies up into the tree branches, but it's so dark now, he can barely even see Rufflet up there.

"Anyth-waaahh!" Al's question is cut short by his scream as a group of rather unhappy Burmy and Wormadam drop down from the trees, annoyed at being disturbed from their sleep.

"Aaahhh, hehe, eh, sorry. Didn't mean to wake you guys." He apologises, glad that it was nothing more.

"Ruff, Rufflet." His pokemon says as he comes back down, doing the bird equivalent of a shrug while flying.

"Hehe, guess it was nothing then." He shrugs too in relief.

Picking his pile back up, he returns to their bags and gets to work setting up the campfire.

Once the fire is going he sits back and looks around, frowning. Arthur's been gone a while now.

' _It shouldn't be_ that _hard to find fresh water here, should it?_ '

He sits and waits, but the longer he waits the more anxious and worried he gets.

' _He should_ definitely _have been back by now._ '

Making his mind up, he stands and walks out to the limits of the fire light, squinting into the dark.

"Artie?" He calls out, hoping the man isn't too far off. But only the sounds of the forest can be heard.

"Artie?!" He calls louder, still nothing.

"Come on man..." Worried, Al walks further out.

" **Artie!? Where are you?!** " His voice booms, bouncing and echoing off the trees.

Silence.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

A short while ago...

Arthur leaves Alfred to his task as he takes their water bottles and heads off to find a spring or river, Pumpkin by his side, lighting the way.

He's done this enough times, it's not hard for him to know where to look. He follows the slope of the land and the denseness of the vegetation, knowing that both will lead him to a source of water.

"Pum, Pum, boo." Pumpkaboo says bumping softly into his side.

"Hehe, yes." He agrees with her. The Dark Woods are much nicer than here, though, he supposes they're both a bit biased, those woods were full of many ghosts that they could make friends with.

"Maybe they'll be some ghosts here for you to make friends with?"

"Pum!" She cheerily replies, looking forward to the prospect. Even if Alfred might hate the idea, Arthur can't deny he would like to meet some ghosts here.

"Ah, here we go." He says as he spies the glimmer of water reflecting light through the trees. A small drop, and their both standing at the edge of a rock lined spring. Arthur hums quietly as he fills their bottles.

"Pum?" A rustling from the trees behind them draws Pumpkin's attention.

"Hmm? Something there?" Arthur asks as he sets the bottles down and comes over to join his Pokemon.

Squinting into the dark reveals nothing but the trees.

"Pum, pum, ka, pum." Pumpkaboo says, floating out a bit more but still seeing nothing.

"Hmm, Alright." Arthur reluctantly agrees, closing his eyes.

' _Might as well have a look...'_

Pumpkin stands guard at his side while he searches, but he finds nothing and reopens his eyes.

"Must have just been the wind." He tells her turning back to collect the bottles.

"Puuum... Ka! Pumpka!" Arthur jumps back at the warning, barely missing the Water Gun aimed at him from the spring. In the water, a Poliwag is watching him closely.

"Ah! Hey, what was that for?" He asks, annoyed at being attacked.

"Poli..." It says, shooting water at him again before diving back under.

"Hey!" Wet and seriously annoyed, Arthur stomps over to the spring, planning to give the mischievous Pokémon a talking to, only, as he leans over the water...

"Poooooolllliiiii..." The water Pokemon sits just below the surface, looking up, it waits for Athur to look it dead in the eyes, before using Hypnosis on him.

"Ah!" Stumbling backwards, Arthur holds his head as he tries to fight the moves effects.

"Pumpka!" Pumpkaboo cries as she sees her trainer stumble and fall to the ground, knocked out by the attack.

"Puuuummm!" She cries angrily as she fires a Shadow Ball into the spring, hoping to hit the Poliwag, the blast throwing water from the pool and sending the bottles to the ground. In her anger, she doesn't see the Pokemon hiding it the trees, until it's too late. Using Teleport, it appears directly in front of her and uses Hypnosis, sending her to sleep on top of her trainer, still trying to protect him even as she succumbs.

"Poli?"

"Kir."

Using it's psychic powers, the Pokemon carries the pair away into the night, leaving only the forgotten bottles behind...

* * *

 **Authors notes:** And into another forest we go. I think it's about time we have a bit of a cliffhanger... What's happened to Arthur? Will Alfred find him? Who's the mystery Pokemon? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time stay awesome!


	22. Where did you go?

" **ARTIE!** " Alfred shouts but still receives no response.

"Ru! Ruff!" Rufflet cries out as he flies about over head.

' _That's_ it _, enough waiting around! I'm gonna go find him!'_

"Let's go Ruffy!" He calls up as he grabs their bags and kicks dirt over the fire to put it out.

"Rufflet!" His partner calls as he follows from the air.

' _Just hold on Artie, I'm gonna fine you... You better be okay. I mean what's the worst that could happen in this dark... creepy... forest... oh, no..._ ' Al shudders, suddenly feeling a sense of foreboding. He shakes his head as he hurries off in the direction Arthur had left.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

It should be said that running through the woods in the dark, with no idea where you are, or what the terrain is like, is a _very_ bad idea. Alfred learns this the hard way...

Slipping, sliding and falling down numerous times, he finally ends up at a small spring.

"Well, there's water... So Artie must have been here..." He ponders out loud as he looks around.

"Ruff, Rufflet!" He hears his Pokemon's cries near the spring.

"Hmm, What is it? Fine something?"

"Ru!" Coming over, Alfred can see his and Arthur's water bottles lying in the grass.

"What?" Picking them up, he can feel that they're both full.

"So he was here... but then..." He looks around again, as if expecting to just suddenly find Arthur, "Where is he?"

' _The bottles are full, so he must have filled them before something happened._ '

"Arthur... Where did you _go_?"

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Urgh..." Arthur groans at the light shining on his face. He rolls over to get away from the annoyance, leaves crinkling under him.

"Urggghh... wha..." He grumbles as he cracks an eye open to see... Tree bark?

Blinking he quickly sits up, and immediately regrets the action, head spinning.

"Urrghhh..." Holding his head, he rolls to the side an is sick into the grass and leaves. Breathing heavily, he crawls away from the pile of puke, lying back down, he let's another groan pass his lips. It's official, he feels like utter shit...

"Pum?" He hears a voice question somewhere above him and off to the side.

"Pum! Pumpka... kaboo..." Odd, the voice sounds worried... but he doesn't really feel like moving right now...

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Alfred is completely exhausted... He and Rufflet spent the whole night searching and calling, but had no luck finding Arthur or Pumpkin. Tired, he slumps down against a tree, Rufflet snuggling down beside him.

"What are we gonna do Ruffy? This place is huge! They could be anywhere..." He sighs, closing his eyes.

"Ru..." Rufflet sounds just as worried.

"Oh, dear... Are you two okay?" A female voice asks. Opening his eyes, Al looks up to be met with the sight of a concerned woman. She has short blonde hair, blue eyes and is... rather well endowed in the chest area... Judging by her clothes —brown boots and forest green trousers and jacket— she must be a park ranger.

"Uh, yeah we're fine, but my friend..." He says as he gets to his feet.

"Oh no, did something happen?" She asks worriedly.

"Uh, yeah. Well... I don't know..." He tries to explain but in his tired state he's not making much sense. Luckily the woman appears to be very patient as she waits for Al to elaborate.

"Well, see... We stopped to make camp and he went to find some water... But, he never came back. When I went looking for him, all I found was our water bottles." He sighs tiredly as he finishes explaining.

"Oh dear. Well don't worry, we'll find him right away." She says encouragingly, patting him on his shoulders.

"You'll help?" He perks up at this.

"Of course. It's my job as a park ranger to help the people and Pokemon here in the park."

"Really? Ah, thanks." He sighs in relief. If anyone can help find Arthur, it'll be the park rangers.

"Combee, help us out." Al watches as she lets out her Pokemon. He's seen plenty of them before, the farm uses hundreds of them to pollinate the fields in spring.

"Do you have something that belongs to your friend?"

"Uh, yeah. This is his bag." He says as he holds up Arthur's bag. Waving her hand to the bag, the Combee buzzes up to it and sniffs it at every angle.

"See? Combee here has an amazing sense of smell, hundreds of times better that Growlithe. With the right training, they can be the perfect search partners." She explains at Alfred's confused look.

"Oh." He never knew that...

"Bee!"

"Ah, looks like he has the sent. Okay, Combee, take us to our missing friend." She says sweetly and her Pokemon buzzes off.

"I'm Katyusha by the way." She says by ways of introducing her self as they follow after the pokemon.

"Alfred."

"Well Alfred, don't worry. I'm sure your friend is fine. What's his name?"

"Arthur. You really think he's okay?"

"I'm sure. The Pokemon in this forest are very playful. They've been known to mess with trainers, making them get lost. But they never do anything intentionally bad."

"I hope your right..."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

The pair walk in silence for some time, Rufflet snoozing on Al's head as they go. Katyusha hums a cheery tune as she walks, trying to keep the mood light. But Alfred's too worried to enjoy the tune, that sense of foreboding still hasn't left him. Though... he could swear he's heard that tune somewhere before...

"Comb! Bee, bee!" The Combee suddenly calls out up ahead. Hurrying over, Al blinks at the sight.

"Kir..." A large group of Pokemon are gathered around a very old dead looking tree. At the front of the group, a Kirlia stands glaring them down.

"Oh, this is... unusual..." Katyusha says at his side, cautiously looking over the group.

"You mean this isn't normal?"

"No, I've never seen them act like this before." She shakes her head, as if she can't believe what she's seeing.

"Arthur must be here." Alfred guesses, though why the Pokemon would be acting so odd is beyond him.

"Careful!" Katyusha pulls him back by the arm as he makes to move forward, the Kirlia letting out a warning growl.

"Kiirrrr..."

"What do we do?" As he asks this, movement from the tree's roots catches his eyes.

"Pum?" Pumpkaboo looks around as she comes out from inside the tree.

"Pumpkin! That's Arthur's Pokemon!" Al waves at the Pokemon, never did he think he'd be so happy to see a ghost.

"Pum! Pum, Pumpka! Kaboo!" She cries, sounding distressed as she sees Alfred, pointing at the tree.

"Oh, that doesn't sound good." Katyusha worries beside him, clearly concerned by Pumpkaboo's distressed behaviour.

"It must be about Arthur, but..." He looks to the group of defensive Pokemon, "How do we get to him?"

"First, we must understand why these Pokemon are here, and why they're so on edge. Only then can we begin to know what's going on here and find a way to get them to let us pass. I don't want to engage them in battle unless absolutely necessary." Katyusha says, the most serious Al has heard her yet. He nods, that makes sense, fighting so many at once would _definitely_ be a bad idea.

"But how are we going to do that?"

"Hehe, simple, I'll ask." With that, she walks forward, arms out, she slowly and carefully approaches the Kirlia, it must be the leader.

"Kirlia?" She asks as she kneels, "Please, tell me what's wrong. What has you so worked up?" Alfred's not sure what she's hoping for, the Pokemon simply glares up at her.

"It's okay, you can trust me." She smiles softly and, amazingly seems to also soften the Kirlia too.

"Kir..." The Pokemon looks away, as if deciding what it should do.

"Come now, it's alright. Your all safe here, as your ranger I promise you, I'm here to look after you. So, tell me what's wrong?" Her sweet voice, gentle smile and calming demeanour, Alfred watches amazed as combined, all of these work to diffuse the anger of not just the Kirlia, but all the gathered Pokemon.

"Kir... Kirlia..." Tugging her arm, the Pokemon walks through the group to stand by the tree. Still smiling softly, Katyusha follows, Al quick to join her.

Once at the tree, Pumpkaboo worriedly pulls at Al's arm, tugging him insistently down to the roots, as he bends down he wrinkles his nose at the smell coming out. Katyusha is already ahead of him and is crawling under, Pumpkin and Al following, Rufflet waiting outside. As he's crawling he hears her gasp.

"Oh, my!"

"Wha?" He asks but there's no need. For there on one side of the hollow tree is Arthur, unconscious, a pile of sick not far away from him, the source of the smell. But on the other side...

Al stares at the heavily injured legendary Pokemon.

"That's... a..."

"Mesprit..." Katyusha whispers in hushed awe as she moves over to it, Al going over to Arthur, Pumpkin sitting worriedly by his head.

"Oh, but this is not good... we must hurry and get it to the centre for treatment."

"Right. Artie, come on wake up." He shakes his shoulders but Arthur doesn't wake, "Come on! Iggy! Artie, Art? Wake up!" He shoves him a bit roughly, only receiving a groan in response. Katyusha coming over to see what the matter is.

"He won't wake up."

"Let me see." She looks him over, pulling his eyes open and looking at the pile of sick.

"Oh, dear..."

"What, What is it?"

"We need to get him to the centre too." She gives no further explanation as she carefully picks Mesprit up and crawls back out, the Kirlia coming in a moment later. Using Psychic, it lifts Arthur and takes him out of the tree, Al and Pumpkin following. Once out the Kirlia put's Arthur down, focus solely on the Mesprit.

"Do not worry, we will care for Mesprit now." Katyusha reassures the gathering as they stare, looking ready to fight should they show any sign of intending further harm on the legendary Pokemon.

"Kir..." Kirlia nods, the group dispersing back into the Woods, though Al can still feel their eyes on them.

"Quickly now, can you carry your friend?"

"Uh, yeah." Swinging their bags around to the front, with the help of Pumpkin and Ruffy, he pulls Arthur up onto his back. It's times like these he's glad he's so strong.

"Okay, let's go."

As they hurry through the forest, Al can hear Arthur groaning.

' _Please be okay._ ' He worries. ' _And_ please _don't be sick on me._ '

* * *

 **Authors notes:** Poor Arthur... and another legendary Pokemon? Well aren't the boys meeting all kinds of Pokémon here. And Ukraine makes and appearance! Also, bee's really do have a much better sense of smell than dogs, they can even be trained to sniff for drugs! True facts here people.

Stay tuned to find out what's going to happen! And of course the answer to the most pressing of questions; will Arthur be sick on Al?

In other news, I have a new story going now, if you like what I write check it out! It's got Knight!America and Wolf!England, so yeah...

R & R people.

Till next time, stay awesome!


	23. To the Park Centre

The sun is at it's peek in the sky by the time they make it out of the forest. Alfred didn't realise how far in they had traveled, but he's even more impressed by Katyusha's ability to navigate through the trees back to the path. Everything looks the same to him, but she knew exactly where to go.

Once back on the path, Al can see an open top jeep parked to the side, Katyusha heads straight for it. On the side he can see **Park Patrol** in clear black letters, standing out from the light blue and green paint job.

"Quickly, put him in the back and get in." She urges him as she climbs in and starts the engine.

"Okay." He nods, hurrying to the car.

Pumpkaboo tugs the door open as he approaches, sending worried glances to Arthur. Al carefully lays him down across the back seats, dropping their bags into the footwell by the man's feet and closes the door, before quickly rounding the car and climbing in the front passenger seat. Rufflet perches himself on the jeeps back guard rail, while Pumpkin sits protectively on Arthur's stomach. Once seated Katyusha gently hands him Mesprit.

"Look after it while I drive." She says as she puts the car into gear and drives it onto the path, "Hold on tight."

Is the only warning Al gets before she slams down on the gas, and in seconds their speeding along the path at a speed Alfred's pretty sure isn't legal. The forest whizzes pass them and Al holds onto his seat for dear life. He catches glimpses of Pokemon as they go, but their moving so fast it's impossible for him to identify any of them. Though the path is mostly even, going at this speed will make even the slightest of bumps seem huge, he realises as the car bounces over each small dip they hit. A particularly large pothole causes the car to dip and twist as it's wheel drops down and back up. The hit jostles Al, and he has to brace himself against the cars dash to prevent being thrown from his seat. The Mesprit in his arms moans quietly at being jerked about, though he tries his best to cushion it. Behind him, he hears Arthur groan, as he too, is jostled. Al looks over in time to see him roll his head to the side and be sick again into the footwell, Pumpkin doing her best to help him stay on the seat, while also not choke on his own vomit. Al crinkles his nose at the smell and turns back round so he doesn't have to look at the pile of sick.

"What's wrong with him?" He decides to ask Katyusha, she seemed to know before.

"Hmm. I won't be certain till he get him checked out at the centre. But, I believe he's suffering a negative reaction to Hypnosis."

"A negative... reaction?"

"Yes. It's rare, but some people can suffer from negative reactions to certain moves. The cause is still unknown, but the effects can vary from person to person."

"Oh... but then, how do you know it's Hypnosis that's affecting him?"

"I have seen someone before have this same reaction to the move." She says, but doesn't elaborate any further.

"Huh." Al looks back over at his ailing friend, "Is it bad? I mean, will he be okay?"

The car bounces and Katyusha smiles.

"Yes. He'll be fine with the proper treatment. From what I know, a negative reaction to Hypnosis can make the sufferer very ill and for some reason they have difficulty waking up, as if the effects of the move have been magnified on them. But this reaction has at least been documented before and an effective treatment has been made, so there's no need to worry." She glances down at Al, to the Mesprit, and frowns, flicking her eyes back to the road, "What I'm really worried about is Mesprit. Such injuries... they can only have been caused by poachers." Al can see her grip on the wheel tighten at that. Alfred looks down at the Pokemon and frowns as well. It is pretty beat up and hasn't moved once since they found it, a few groans being the only signs of life coming from it.

"I am very worried. If poachers have gotten in... then the safety of all the Pokemon that live here is in danger." She warns him, reaching for the Car's radio. They must be within range of the centre now.

"Katyusha reporting in. Adéla are you there?" There's a moment of silence before the static buzz of the radio is replaced with a females voice.

"Yeah, I'm here. What's up?"

"I've got a code Red here. Possibly a 9-12 in sector D, east side, over."

"Copy that. I'll have Ján dispatch a patrol. We'll perp for your arrival. Over."

"Copy. ETA 15. Over."

"Roger."

With that, she slips the radio back into it's slot and they hurry on.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Sure enough, in 15 minutes they reach the park centre, though it could easily be seen a good 5 minutes out as the trees thinned out to make way for open plains. Alfred stares up at the building as they approach.

The centre is a full 30 stories high, with a sleek architectural design, it stands out well from the surrounding plains, but also has a natural look about it. A series of roof gardens is visible from the four levels that make up the roof. They connect in such a way, that it looks as if someone had simply took part of the sloping forest and dropped it on top of the building. Floor to ceiling windows cover the first two floors, giving Al a clear view of the inside. And as they approach he can see people inside moving about and looking out across the view. But he doesn't have long to admire it, as soon, they're pulling up into the massive car park out front. He spots a number of other jeeps, both open and closed topped, as they pass, before they stop right at the steps leading to the front doors. As soon as they stop Katyusha is pulling the keys out and jumping out.

Al quickly follows as a teenage girl dressed in the park ranger outfit comes running out to meet them.

"Kat!" She cries as she leaps down the steps.

"Alfred, give Mesprit to Adéla." Doing as he's told, he carefully hands the injured Pokemon over.

"Oh my!" She gasps, before, just as carefully, she accepts the Mesprit and without saying anything else, turns and runs back inside the centre.

"Alright. She'll take care of Mesprit. For now, let's help Arthur." Al turns back around and nods, coming over to join her at the back of the car. Opening the door, he pulls Arthur up onto his back again. He tries not to think to much about the smell of puke coming from him. Katyusha smiles at him as she grabs the boy's bags, thankfully untouched by Arthur's sick, leading the way in, Alfred and their Pokemon following.

Inside, he looks around as they walk. The place is very spacious, showing off the buildings true size. The lobby has a polished marble floor that reflects back at them, the windows clear and soft seats dot the room. Though for all it's size, there aren't many people here, only a few dot the place, most of which are members of the park. A teen boy, about the same age as the girl from before, sits behind the front desk.

"Hey, Kat! I've sent out that patrol. We should know by tonight if there's anything to worry about."

"Ah, Good." She nods to him as they pass, heading for the elevators.

They pile in, and Alfred can't help but feel small in comparison to this place. The sound of the pleasant elevator music is disrupted by Arthur groaning by Al's ear.

"Hmm? Arti- OH GOD NO!" He cries out as, without warning, Arthur proceeds to be sick once more, right over Alfred.

"Eeewww! Gross! Artie!" He complains, feeling the wet warmth seeping through his jacket and down the front of his t-shirt.

"Uurrrggghh..."

"Don't _urgh_ me! You we're just _sick_ on me!" He snaps at the unconscious man, caught between keeping a hold of him and dropping him.

"Oh, dear." Katyusha says as she watches the exchange, if you could call it that. Though if Al were to look he'd see she was trying very hard not to laugh at his predicament.

"Eeewwww..." He whines as he looks over at the mess, the smell of bile starting to sting his nose. Looking at the sick with a face of utter disgust, Al is forced into realising the contents of Arthur's stomach, or rather lack of, as he's met with the sight of the drying yellow bile. Past his annoyance, his worry returns.

' _We never did have dinner. Those other times, he must have up chugged everything left that he had eaten._ '

Thankfully the elevator bings and they're freed from the confinement of the small room, at least to a more airy room to let the smell dissipate somewhat.

"Just through here." Katyusha waves toward a door to their right.

Entering, Alfred finds them in a clinic, one it seems, designed for people rather than Pokemon.

"Lay him down on the bed."

"Yeah, sure." He's more that happy to drop Arthur now, though he does so at least a little gently, while a nurse walks in.

"Hello, What seems to be the problem?" She asks as she comes over, beginning to look Arthur over. They explain the situation and she nods in agreement.

"Yes. Judging by his symptoms, I'd say this is indeed a negative reaction to a Pokemon move. Though, one of the most severe reactions I've seen. You say he's vomited at least 3 times already, twice in the past half hour? And you've been unable to wake him?"

"Yes, that's right." Katyusha confirms.

"Is that bad?" Al asks.

"It can be, if left untreated. Right now, my main concern is he's becoming dehydrated from the vomiting. So we'll put him on fluids and start up the treatment." She says as she sets up an IV. However as she goes to insert it, Pumpkin suddenly becomes aggressive, angrily protecting Arthur from the nurse.

"Pum! Pumpka, kaboo!" She cries as she blocks the nurse from Arthur.

"Whoa! Pumpkin, chill!" Al quickly tries to calm the angered Pokemon. Thankfully, she listens to him, turning questioningly.

"It's alright. They just want to help." He tries to explain. Pumpkaboo looks accusingly at the Nurse and the IV.

"Pum..." Understanding, Al pats her comfortingly on the head and smiles reassuringly.

"It's alright, it's medicine. It'll make Artie feel better. Don't worry, they're not going to hurt him."

"Pum..." Finally relenting, she moves away. Sitting by Arthur's head, she watches them closely just in case. The nurse smiles as she gets to work.

"You're a very loyal Pokemon, aren't you?"

"Alfred, why don't you go get cleaned up?" Katyusha suggests, heading for the door. He nods and follows after her.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Alfred sighs as he lies back, sprawling out on the bench, now clean and wearing his spare set of clothes. The roof top gardens are just as beautiful up close as they looked on the way here. A number of wild Pokémon have even made it there home.

He looks over at Rufflet, happily perched and eating his fill in one of the many berry trees. It's colder up here, but he finds it quite relaxing. He gets up, moving to wander around the gardens, thinking of his next move. Pumpkaboo is still down stairs, refusing to move from her vigil by Arthur's side. According to the nurse, Artie should be all good by tomorrow. So that just leaves Alfred to wander around the centre, deciding what to do next.

' _I know the next gym is here but, I just wouldn't feel right to challenge it without Artie there..._ ' He kicks a stone, wandering over to the fence surrounding the gardens.

' _Plus, I don't think I'd be able to focus. Not without knowing for_ sure _that he's okay..._ ' He finds a stand of observation binoculars, facing out towards the Terra Gorge. Shrugging, he pops a coin in and looks through them.

The centre is built only a 10 minute walk from the edge of the Gorge, from this height, the binoculars give a perfect view of the length of the feature. He can even see down into the crevice. He watches the Rock and Ground type Pokémon that make it there home. There are a few legends about how the Gorge was formed, his favourite is that hundreds of super large Onix burrowing through the ground caused it to crack and form the Gorge. But really, the Gorge is the result of a natural geographical fault line running through the region, it divides the north and south mountain ranges. The timer runs out and the binoculars click shut, blocking out the view, so Alfred goes back to his wandering. He sighs.

' _So, my next move..._ ' As he walks, he looks about at the wild Pokémon and pulls the park balls from his pocket.

' _Three balls, that gives me at least three chances to catch something here, but what to catch? There are so many, how do I choose?_ ' He flops back down on the bench again.

"Let's see, I have Bouffy, a Normal type. And Freedom, a Normal and Flying type..." He continues, voicing his thoughts.

"Bouffy is weak to Fighting types, but Ruffy's Flying type moves cover that... so... Ruffy is weak to Electric, Ice and Rock types, so the best single coverage for that would be... Fighting? But that wouldn't help against Electric types, Ground would be good against Electric and Rock but it's weak to Ice... Argh! All this thinking is making my head hurt!" He huffs as he sits up.

"Okay, so forget about types... What Pokémon do _I_ think would be a good match for my team? Hmm..." Tilting his head back, he looks up to the sky, watching the clouds drift by.

"What was it Arthur said before? Um... Something like, match the partner I choose to my fighting style... or something..." He shakes his head, standing.

"Eh, I can figure this out later, for now, I'm _starving!_ Come on Ruffy, let's go raid the cafeteria!"

"Ru!" His bird calls, mouth full with berries, the pair head off to find their next meal. Truly, Pokemon like trainer.

* * *

 **Authors notes:** Sorry, Al, but it was too good of an opportunity. So, headcanon; people can have bad reactions to Pokemon moves, kind of like a more severe version of an allergic reaction. After all, being hit with weird energy blasts has got to have some sort of effect on you. Though, the reason why Arthur reacted particularly badly has to do with how it happened, which'll be explain next time. But hey they made it to the centre in record time! Also since they don't have any official names, Adéla is Czech and Ján is Slovakia.

So, who'll be the next gym leader? And what Pokémon will Alfred decide to catch? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time, stay awesome!


	24. You get better, we'll train

"Artie?" Al asks as he comes into the clinic room. Katyusha had been kind enough to set him up with a room on the 26th floor for the night, while Arthur spent the night recovering downstairs.

"Hmm?" His friend asks as he sits up in bed.

"Hey, how you feeling?" Walking over, he takes a seat by the bed.

"Well, I don't feel like death anymore so, that's an improvement." He jokes, petting Pumpkins head as she sleeps next to him.

"Well that's good. You really had me worried there."

"Hehe, sorry."

Behind them, the door opens and the nurse from before enters the room.

"Ah, you're awake now, good." She smiles and nods, happy that Arthur is doing better, "I just need to give you a quick going over before I can let you go, alright?" She asks, coming over. Arthur nods and she sets to work.

Once satisfied, she steps back and asks, "Do you remember how this happen to you?"

"Yeah, Artie, you just totally disappeared." Arthur must still not be up to speed yet as he doesn't react to the nickname.

"Mmh.." He closes his eyes and frowns, thinking for a moment, before looking back to the nurse "We were going to make camp... I left with Pumpkin to go find some fresh water... I filled our bottles and..." He frowns more, clearly having trouble remembering.

"Take your time." The Nurse reassures. It takes a few minutes but finally he remembers.

"Oh! Right... I was attack by a Poliwag. It was in the spring."

"A Poliwag?" Al asks and he nods.

"The spring you say?" The Nurse looks thoughtful at that, "Arthur, by any chance was the Poliwag under the water when it used Hypnosis on you?"

"Um... yes, actually it was. I remember looking over the edge of the spring to find it, and... uh, well, I remember it's eyes glowing... after that, nothing."

"I see." She nods, coming to a conclusion, "That would explain why you had such a particularly bad reaction to the move."

"It does?" Al questions, not following.

"Yes. You see the move Hypnosis is a light based attack, meaning the user will use light to put there target to sleep. Water, however, bends light and can act as a magnifying glass. Viewing the Hypnosis through water and so close up, the effects of the move would have been magnified beyond there natural levels. Pokemon are creatures that are used to being hit with such attacks but us humans are not so accustomed to them. So we can sometimes have negative reactions to them, be it to a certain type of move or simply to a single particular move. Everyone's different, so our reactions are different as well."

"Oh, I never knew that."

"It's alright. Most people don't realise it unless they've experience it themselves. Tell me Arthur, have you ever experience a reaction like this before?"

"No, not that I know of anyway."

"Hmm, well. It could simply be a result of how this happened, or you could be particularly susceptible to Hypnosis or Psychic moves in general."

"I don't think it's Psychic moves, I've been hit with Kinesis before. Apart from making me really dizzy I was fine."

"Hmm, well have you ever been hit with Hypnosis before now?"

"Not that I know of." He shakes his head tiredly.

"Mmh, well, I'd advise avoiding it, just in case."

"Sure." He sighs.

"Well, we're all done here, your free to go. Take it easy for a few days and you'll be fine."

"Thanks." He nods to the nurse, picking Pumpkaboo up and slowly sliding off the bed.

Alfred jumps to his feet when he sees him stumble, arms out, ready to catch him should he fall.

"Whoa, you okay Artie?" He just nods sluggishly, steadying himself.

"Get plenty of rest." The nurse says softly as Al leads the way out.

They take the elevator, thankfully cleaned and no longer smelling of sick, back to Al's room. He watches Arthur as he leans tiredly against the wall, cuddling Pumpkin to himself. Alfred smiles, Arthur would hate him if he said anything but, like this, the blonde looks like a child ready for bed. It's really kind of cute. Even more so when he crawls into the bed Al leads him to, Pumpkin firmly by his side, the pair looking completely inseparable.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

While Arthur is out like a light, Al decides to go find Katyusha. Maybe she can help him find the gym leader and set up for his upcoming battle. Whenever Arthur is feeling up for watching him that is.

Searching around all the floors, he doesn't find her. But he __does__ find the gym on the 6th floor, though closed, and a massive training room on the 7th. Deciding she must be out on patrol, he makes the most of his find and let's Bouffalant out to join Rufflet.

"Alright guys, since the gym appears to be closed and Artie is kinda out of it, what do you say we do some training?"

"Bouuu!"

"Ruufff!" His Pokemon both cry excitedly at the idea.

"Great! Then let's get to work!"

The room has equipment for training all kinds of Pokemon and Alfred intends to make the most of it, even if his training methods might seem a little... unorthodox. And he's not one to sit around either.

Using the weights, Al ties some to Rufflet's feet and has him fly around the room. In the centre of the room is a large swimming pool and together, he and Bouffalant swim laps. To anyone walking in it might seem strange, but to Al, this is the way to go. The weights will help strengthen Rufflet's flight muscles, making his attacks have more power behind them. Same goes for the swimming, fighting to move through the water will help improve Bouffalant's leg muscles in ways that simply running won't. After there laps, it's on to target practice, improving their accuracy. For Ruffy, he sets up the rings he finds around the room, tying them to the ropes hanging from the ceiling in a training circuit, decreasing in size as he goes. And for Bouffy, he sets up inflatable dummies around the track circling the pool, also getting smaller as he goes.

"Alright." He nods at his work, still drying of from his swim, "Ruffy? I want you to try flying through the rings, don't miss any! And Bouffy? I want you to use Horn Attack on those dummies, send them flying!" His Pokemon nod, then set of at speed.

Bouffalant easily takes out the larger ones, but as they grow smaller, he begins to have to rely on the size of his horn to make the hit, rather than the point. But Alfred smiles and cheers approvingly. Hitting such small targets is hard, and even if the side of the horn isn't as effective as the point, power isn't what he's training right now. Ruffy too, preforms excellently, in fact, Alfred starts to notice something as he watches the bird aim to fly through the smaller rings.

"Wait... that's..." He watches closely as Rufflet loops in the air to build speed and momentum to make it through the ring, the small ones aren't wide enough to fly through with his wings spread, so his Pokemon must work to aim himself, and close his wings back against his body as he passes through it. There! As Rufflet dives through the ring, just before he closes his wings, Al spots the glow of an attack forming. And if it's what he thinks it is...

Alfred quickly sets up one of the dummies not far from the ring.

"Ruffy! Do that again, but this time, I want you to hit this dummy on the way out!"

"Ruff?" His Pokemon questions, but does as told.

Flying up, he loops in the air, quickly picking up speed and dives through the ring. Just like before, he glows with the beginnings of a move and, spreading his wings back out, slams into the dummy, bursting it with the force.

"Ru?" He sounds his surprise.

"Haha! Yeah, Ruffy, do you know what that was? That was Aerial Ace! You just learned a new move!" Al cries, ecstatic at the development and pulls his Pokemon in to a crushing hug.

"Ru? Ru, Rufflet!" Realising it's achievement, His Pokemon cries out happily. Rufflet proudly puffs out his chest as he soaks up the praise.

"Booouu!" Bouffalant huffs, happily nudging the pair, pleased as well.

Unknown to the trio, they're training was being closely watched.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

They spend the rest of the day training, perfecting Rufflet's new move and strengthening themselves for their upcoming battle. As the sun begins to set, Al decides to call it a day and, recalling Bouffalant, heads back up to their room.

"Oh, Hey Artie. Didn't know you were up." He says as he returns, surprised to find Arthur sitting up in bed, Pumpkaboo is also up, happily sitting in his lap. Though, going by his serious bed head, he's only just woke up.

"Hmm, stop calling me that..." He grumbles sleepily as he yawns.

"Hehe, looks like your feeling better if your telling me off." He jokes as he sits down on his bed.

"Yes And Well, um...thank you." He mumbles the last bit, looking away.

"Huh? For what?" Al doesn't think he's done anything to be thanked for.

"What do you think? For, you know... helping me..." He fidgets, tugging at the clothes he was changed into while staying at the clinic.

"Eh? Artie-" He receives a glare, "Arthur, there's no need to thank me. Your my friend, so, of course I'd help you. I wasn't just going to leave you lying in that tree next to your own puke. I mean who would do that?" Arthur simply shrugs.

Odd, this is a side to Arthur Al's never seen before. The man is always so sure of himself, to see him acting so... self conscious? And meek, is just... Odd. Where's the knowing smirk, the 'I'm better than you and you know it' attitude?

"I know, but... just... thank you."

Okay, this is seriously weirding him out now, time to change gears.

He smirks, "Well, yeah! I mean as the __hero__ it's my job to save the damsel in distress!"

"Da- who the __hell__ do you think your calling a **__**damsel**__**?!" Arthur roars, throwing the nearest object, his pillow, at Alfred in his outrage.

"Hahaha!" He laughs as he dodges the projectile, Rufflet Flying up into the air to avoid being hit. He smiles brightly at the red faced blonde.

' _ _Much better.__ '

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** Hey, Arthur's better! *dodges pillows* And Rufflet learns a new move! But yeah, so that's why Arthur got so sick. Don't look directly into Hypnosis through water people! And just who was watching them training?

Next time, Arthur get's to meets Mesprit and Al learns who the gym leader is!

R & R people.

Till next time, stay awesome!


	25. Arthur meets Mesprit

After Arthur's 'totally not but really was, hissy fit' a thought occurs to him.

"Wait, did you say __inside a tree__? Last I remember I was by a spring when I was attacked." He asks, confused as to how he got from one place to another while unconscious.

"Yeah, Oooh, that's right! I didn't tell you! Artie-"

"Arthur!"

"-when we found you, you we're in this huge dead tree being guarded by a whole bunch of wild Pokémon, with this super pissed of Kirlia. We thought we'd have to fight our way through."

"We?" Arthur tilts his head questioningly.

"Oh, Yeah. Me and Katyusha."

"It's Katyusha and __I.__ So you met her then? Did you give her Ivan's gift?"

"The gift? But that's fo- Wait! Do you mean __Katyusha__ is the gym leader?!" Al gapes, shocked. He had no idea. Arthur sighs, whether because he's still not feeling fully back up to speed, or because Alfred's lack of realisation, he's not sure.

"Yes. Katyusha is the gym leader of the National Park, has been for a few years now, I do believe. She's also Ivan's older sister." He explains, lying back against his bed.

"Oh." Suddenly, things make a lot of sense. He blinks, well, now he knows who the gym leader is. That'd explain why the gym was closed when he was looking for her.

"Anyway, we're getting of topic." Arthur says, drawing his attention back.

"Huh?"

"The tree, where you found me? Why were so many Pokémon guarding it?"

"Ooooohh! Yeah, right that. Well, we kinda of found an injured Mesprit in there with you." Arthur's mouth drops open as he sits up.

"Are you serious?" Alfred had said it so casually, as if it's an everyday occurrence to run into legendary Pokemon, injured or not.

"Yup! We rushed both of you back here in Katyusha's jeep and here we are!" Al finishes, spreading his arms wide.

"So where is it now? The Mesprit?" He asks excitedly.

"I gave it to one of the girl's working here to look after. It's probably still in their clinic. We could ask Katyusha if she'll let you see it." He reasons.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

And so, the pair head out to find the gym leader.

"Are you sure your okay to be moving about? You __were__ told to take it easy." Alfred reminds Arthur as the pair ride the elevator's down to the lobby. The man rolls his eyes at him.

"Yes, Al. We're just walking around, I'm not about to run a marathon or anything." He says sarcastically.

"Well, alright, But if you collapse don't expect me to carry you, not after last time." He huffs, still hating having been sick on.

"Ah, Yes, Sorry about that." Arthur grimaces, clearly not proud of the moment.

When the doors open to the lobby, they both blink as they see Katyusha standing waiting on the lift.

"Oh! Arthur, I see your doing better now." She observers as they step out.

"Yes, thank you."

"Hey, Katyusha you never told me your the gym leader!" Al cries, still surprise by the fact.

"Ah, no. I guess in all the excitement I forgot to mention it."

"Speaking of..." Arthur trails off, looking around. Al smiles, knowing what he want's to ask.

"Hey do you think we could go see, you know, our injured friend?" He asks carefully, remembering her words of caution about directly talking about Mesprit out in the open.

"Hmm? Oh! Well... Normally I would say no but..." She looks Arthur over, "The Pokemon seemed to trust you enough to bring you to it, so... I think it should be okay." She reasons. The pair beam, quickly following her across the lobby,and through the doors behind the front desk.

They weave their way along the corridors to a room Katyusha uses here key card to open. Unlike the other rooms were large window allow you to see in, this rooms window is tinted, making it difficult to make out the Pokemon inside.

"This is our high security room, it's where we take the most endangered Pokémon to be cared for." She explains as she holds the door open for them.

Inside, Mesprit is a sleep on the bed in the centre of the small room, a glass cylinder covering it. The pair can hear the quiet hiss of the mix of medicine filling the chamber, healing the Pokemon held within. Alfred can see the cylinders hooked up to the chamber, but he doesn't understand any of the chemical names. Beside him, Arthur stares in awe of the Pokemon, and, Alfred has to admit he too, is still pretty amazed by it. To think, he actually __held__ a legendary Pokemon. Looking closely, he can see Mesprit looks much better, most of it's injuries are healed and it's sleeping much more peacefully.

As they step closer, it blinks awake and looks up at them.

"Mess?" It's sweet voice is somewhat muffled by the chamber.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to wake you. Feeling any better?" Katyusha gently asks.

"Mesprit." It nods, sitting up.

"Good." She smiles before frowning, "Now I only wish you could tell us who did this to you."

"...I, __might__ be able to help with that..." Al turns to Arthur, confused.

"Really? How, did you see something?" Though, if he did, why didn't he mention it before?

"No, __I__ never saw anything. But Mesprit here will have." He nods to the Pokemon as he takes a step closer.

"Wha- oooh! Yes, I knew you looked familiar." Katyusha claps her hands together in realisation.

"What? Artie? Am I missing something here?" Alfred will admit, he's __very__ confused. Arthur smirks, though, it looks strained.

"Well I know your not really one for paying attention to things, honestly, I'm surprised you didn't know when I introduced myself to you."

"Yeah, no. Still lost here." Arthur sighs, dropping his smirk and looking away.

"It's okay Arthur." Katyusha says softly, looking between the two, "You don't need to tell him if you don't want too. And I won't push you to do this either."

Arthur looks up surprise at this and she smiles kindly at him, nodding.

"It's alright, really. I don't know your reasons, or what happened between you and your family, but I __can__ respect your choices."

"I..." He drops his head, suddenly seeming younger than he is, "...thank you..." He whispers.

Alfred looks between the two, completely lost.

"Mesprit?" The Pokemon questions, causing Arthur to look back up at it. He blinks, before walking over and placing his hand on the chamber, Mesprit looking up at him.

"...but... I __want__ to do this. I want to help. I'm **__**done**__** running."

"Alright." Katyusha agrees, "I'll let Mesprit out then, if that'll help?"

"...yeah, it would..."

Alfred watches as she moves forward to the computer by the wall, pressing a few keys. The machine bings and Al can hear the sound of a lock being released, then, the chamber slides back, allowing Mesprit out. It flies up, going around the room, looking at each of them closely. When it looks at him, Alfred get's the feeling that it's looking into his soul, into his very being. It only lasts a few seconds, but it's an intense experience, before the Pokemon settles for looking at Arthur, floating just in front of his head.

"..." Arthur doesn't say anything at first, then he bows his head, as if he can't look Mesprit in the eye.

"...Mesprit..." He says, voice barely above a whisper, his hair hiding his expression, "...I want to help...I...I know your not a Ghost type...so I...this won't be as effective as it would if you were...but..." He raises his arms, offering his hands to the Pokemon, "...I want to try...please... if you trust me...tell me what happened to you..."

"Mes? Mesprit."

Confused, Al watches as the Pokemon floats closer, gently placing it's hands in Arthur's, and closes it's eyes, and though he can't see, he's sure Arthur is doing the same.

' _ _Wait... This kinda reminds me of the tournament...__ ' He's not sure why, but this and then just seem to somehow be related.

He continues to watch as the red gems in it's tails and head begin to glow, quickly growing brighter, and the Pokemon frowns. He hears Arthur gasp and sees him flinch, but he doesn't pull away. He's __really__ not sure what's going on, Al looks to Katyusha for help, but she seems completely engrossed in the goings on. He looks back, and sees Arthur's hands tightening around Mesprit's, before he suddenly let's go, stumbling back and catching himself on the wall. Al stares, worried, as Arthur slides down the wall, staring at Mesprit, tears running down his cheeks.

"Whoa, Artie? You okay?" He asks gently, coming over to the others side.

"Y-yeah..." He says shakily, blinking, he looks around.

"Messs..." The legendary Pokemon says sadly as it floats, looking down at Arthur, it's gems no longer glowing.

"Just take it easy Arthur. I know that must have been hard for you." Katyusha smiles softly as she returns Mesprit to the chamber.

Alfred really want's to ask what just happened, but he knows now's clearly not the time for that. Instead, he sits down against the wall next to Arthur, and, after a moments thought, wraps his arms around the others shoulders. Katyusha busies herself with the computer while Al sits, quietly waiting for Arthur to calm down.

It takes a few minutes but finally Arthur starts to talk.

"It was them."

"Them?"

"Those same guys we saw before. The one's with the Arceus symbol that caged that Cobalion."

"You've seen these poachers before?" Katyusha asks as she comes over, crouching down in front of them.

Arthur nods, "Yes. Outside of Kansa village."

She frowns, "Then poachers really __are__ here."

"Mhmm. Mesprit... it..." Arthur frowns, as if trying to decipher a puzzle, "They were chasing it. Trying to catch it I think."

"Think?" Al asks still lost.

Katyusha nods, "Mesprit is the Pokemon of emotions, I imagine Arthur got a lot of that." She explains unclearly.

"Yeah, I did... though, there were a few images, it was mostly... feelings... __very__ strong ones." He says as he reaches up and wipes away his tears, as if only now just noticing them.

"Fear mostly, and pain... a __lot__ of pain. But Mesprit is worried."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure exactly but... I think... it was looking for it's friend, but __they__ took it. It fought them, but... they used something. I don't know what, but it __terrified__ Mesprit. It barely got away."

"Do you know where this happened?" Katyusha urges him on.

Frowning, he closes his eyes to think.

"A pond? Or small lake, with three trees twisted together to become one."

"I know the place." Katyusha nods, standing, "Thank you Arthur. Really. You didn't have to put yourself through that. But now we know for sure that poachers were here, and where." She then smiles to Alfred, "And Alfred? I know you want to challenge me, but it'll have to wait until I'm certain that the poachers are gone and the Pokemon here are all safe. You understand, don't you?"

"Sure." He nods.

"Good. Now, look after Arthur." She smiles sadly at the man, "He may not say it, but he could do with someone to be there for him."

He nods again, tightening his hold on Arthur.

"Right."

* * *

 **Authors notes:** I've returned! And while I wasn't dying I was writing plenty of chapters for both my on going stories so woo!

You guessed it, Ukraine is the next gym leader! And we see a bit more of Arthur's... let's say, inherited gifts... And the villains are up to stuff in the background still.

Just what is going on? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time, stay awesome!


	26. A friend's care

Alfred is worried. Something he's beginning to do a lot lately it seems, but he thinks he has good reason to be...

Arthur won't talk...

He never spoke as he let Al pull him to his feet, or when they headed back up to their room. Not once did he speak through the rest of the night, or even now. The sun has been up for a little while, and all of Alfred's attempts to get the other to just say __something__ have been met with resolute silence. He even called him Iggy again, but nothing...

He sighs heading back up to the room, breakfasts in hand. Arthur doesn't seem like he's going to move from his bed anytime soon, so he'll just bring the food to him. He stares determinedly at his reflection in the tea, remembering Katyusha's words.

 _"_ _ _Look after Arthur. He may not say it, but he could do with someone to be there for him."__

He has questions, a __lot__ of questions... but he won't push Arthur, not when he's like this...

"Arthur?" He nudges the door open with his back, looking to his friend. Still in bed, lying on his side, staring at the wall. Like he's been doing since last night...

He suppresses a sigh and let's the door close shut behind him, placing the trays of food on the desk.

"I got us breakfast!" He tries a cheery tone, but, still nothing.

"I got you tea too, since I know what your like without your morning tea." A light joke, but still no response.

"I got the coffee for me, don't know what you like about tea so much. Just tastes like leafy hot water to me." A little jab at his tastes... Nothing...

"Do you want the cereal or the toast?"

"..."

"The eggs?"

"..."

"Well, alright... I'll have the toast and eggs then, since they'll get cold if you don't want them..."

"..."

"...do you want to come feed our Pokémon after we eat...?"

"..."

"...I bet Pumpkin is really hungry... don't you want to let her out and have something with us...?"

"..."

Nothing... He sighs heavily. He's tried everything he can think off, but Arthur... It's like the man has locked himself away, behind a wall that can't be climbed or broken, the door hidden from Alfred, the key a mystery. He eat's in silence, thinking.

' _ _What happened yesterday? What did you do, and... how did you do whatever it was?'__ He thinks back, to what Katyusha said, to the tournament, to when Arthur first introduced himself.

' _ _It's all related, I'm sure of it, but...__ how?' He picks up a piece of toast to much on.

' _ _Okay, let's see... back in the Dark Woods, he told me his name. And yesterday he said I should have got it from that... and Katyusha__ _ _said something about his family? And she recognised him, but she didn't know who he was to begin with so... she recognised him by his looks, so, familial resemblance then? His name...Kirkland...Kirkland...wait, that__ does __kinda seem familiar but I don't know why... have I heard it somewhere before?__ ' He shakes his head, eating some eggs.

' _ _And at the tournament, the way he battle just seemed...__ different... __like he and Torch were...__ connected __somehow.__ ' He blinks at that, pausing in his chewing.

' _ _Connection, why does that seem important?__ ' There's something there, he's sure. Something at the edge of his mind, just out of reach. He's __definitely__ heard something about this before.

He huffs, giving up on trying to work things out for now. It's like Katyusha said, even if he doesn't understand, he can still respect Arthur's decisions. So, if he doesn't want to talk, then he won't force him, and as his friend, he'll be there for him.

Finished, he clears up his tray and grabs both their pokeballs.

"Well, if you don't feel up to coming down that's fine. I'll be back in a bit okay?"

He still get's no response, but smiles, because he know's Arthur. He knows that whatever is bothering him, he won't let it keep him down for long, so he heads back out. He'll try again later.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Pokemon now fed, he decides to make a quick stop at the training room for some practice before heading back up.

"Alright, everyone come on out!" He calls as he tosses all the balls into the air, releasing the four other Pokémon to join him and Rufflet.

Bouffalant, recognising the room, huffs approvingly, clearly happy to get some more training done. Arthur's Pokemon on the other hand still seem confused. They had seemed curious to know where their trainer was before, but were, for the most part, happy to eat without Arthur there. Torch seemed quite lost at not having Arthur around to hide behind, but Pumpkaboo was eventually able to calm him enough to eat.

"Okay guys, see, Arthur's in a bit of a funk, so I thought you might like to spend some time training here while he works things out. How's that sound?"

They look to each other, seeming unsure, until Casper laughs, seeming to like the idea.

"Misssss" He loops in the air quite happily, though Lampent and Pumpkaboo still seem unconvinced.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" He promises.

Finally, Pumpkin nods, and Torch reluctantly agrees too. He smiles bright and gets to work.

Hidden within the room, a figure watches closely.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Fun done, they head back to the room. Arthur's Pokemon refused to return to their balls, but Al didn't push it. He get's the feeling that they're worried about Artie too. So, together, the lot of them pile back into the room. As soon as they spot the blonde in bed, the three ghosts dive for him, Casper choosing to pass straight through Al to get to him. He shudders, but thankfully, doesn't squeal and closes the door as he comes in.

"Pum! Pum!"

"Laaaa? Laaaammm..."

"Mis? Misdreeeeeavus!"

Al watches, smiling as the Pokemon call out, shaking their trainer. Casper squishing down into the space between Arthur's face and the wall, getting right up in his face and staring. He puts up an admiral effort to ignore them, but ignoring Casper seems to be impossible as he insistently tickles Arthur's face. Pumpkin too, growing annoyed at being ignored, switches from shaking his shoulder to pulling at the mans hair. Even Torch, takes to hovering directly above his ear and whines.

The combination soon proves too much and Arthur breaks, sitting up, he swats them away from his face.

"Alright, Alright, enough." He grumbles, but Al can see the ghost of a smile on his face.

"Praise Arceus, he speaks!" Alfred cheers, throwing his arms up in celebration.

"Haha, very funny."

"Hehe, still grumpy thou-uff!" He flops back onto his bed dramatically as he's hit in the face with a pillow. He smiles as he pulls the object away, growing brighter when he sees Arthur's happy smile at his antics.

"Idiot."

"Made you smile though, so I count that as a success."

"Heh, your such a fool."

"Hehehe."

"Pum! Pum!" Pumpkaboo cries as she tugs at Arthur's arm.

"Hmm? What's up?" Arthur's talking again so what's the problem now?

He watches as Arthur's smile becomes strained, looking to his Pokemon with sad eyes.

"Sorry, I know I promised I wouldn't get like this anymore." Al blinks as the Pokemon all suddenly sit on the blonde. Casper on his head, Torch hangs from his shoulders and Pumpkin in his lap.

"Artie..."

"Alfred I..."

"It's okay." The man blinks, surprise at him. Al smiles kindly back.

"Like Katyusha said, you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. Yeah I'm confused and hella curious but I won't force you. I'm happy as long as you are." Arthur stares, blinking slowly as he processes this, then he looks down, smiling sadly.

"Thank you." He whispers and Al knows he's made the right decision. Whatever this is, it's clearly deeply personal to him, the way he thanks him so quietly and so earnestly tells him all he needs to know. Arthur looks back up at him, now looking more sure of himself.

"But, I'll tell you, someday."

He nods, "Sure. But in the mean time, what do you say we check out the park. Since I can't have my battle until Katyusha is sure everything is all good."

Arthur smiles, the brightest Alfred has seen in days, "Sure."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

The pair wander the plains around the centre for the rest of the day, watching the Pokemon enjoying the last of the warm days before the cold of winter settles in. As they walk, Alfred thinks on his plans to add a new Pokemon to his team.

"Hey, Artie?"

The man sighs heavily, "Your never going to stop calling me that, are you?"

"Nope!" He grins, "But I've been thinking, what kind of Pokemon do you think I should catch? I wanna catch one before my gym challenge, but I can't decide on what to go for!" To his surprise, Arthur chuckles beside him.

"Hehe, Al, you really don't need to think so hard on it. Just think about how you came to catch Ruffy. You didn't go out __looking__ for a Rufflet to catch, but you decided on him because you __knew__ it was right."

"Ooooh, yeah, your right. Is that how it was for you?"

"Mhmm. Like most people, I left home only with one Pokémon, Pumpkin. Torch I found, he was just a Litwick at the time, lost and alone. He was all by himself in an abandoned house in the woods. Casper on the other hand, well, let's just say he was causing mischief in places he shouldn't. I heard about it and when to check it out. He was a complete __pain__ when we first met." He chuckles at the memory, "I tried to catch him, but he refused to be caught, until a showed him that luxury ball. Hehe, nothing less than the best for him."

"Huh, I didn't know pokemon could be picky about the ball they got caught in."

"Well, it is to be their new home, so I guess it makes sense."

A cold breeze blows through the plains, causing Alfred to shiver.

"Brrr! Aren't you cold?" He asks, nodding to the cloak, "That can't be very warm."

"Hmm, a little, but it's fine."

"What's with the cloak anyway? You don't really seem the type to wear something like that."

"Alfred, we've known each other for how long? And your only just __now__ asking about this?" Arthur pauses, raising an eyebrow at him.

"What? I kept meaning to ask, but I kept forgetting." Arthur just shakes his head and resumes walking.

"It was a gift. And... it's a reminder."

"A reminder? Of what?" Arthur dodges his gaze as he looks away.

"...Of why I'm here." He answers slowly, "of why I left, why I ran away." His voice sounds sad and distance as he slows, tugging at the material.

"Hey, you don't ha-"

"No." He shakes his head, turning to look at Al, "I thought..." His gaze wanders, but he forces it to snap back to look at Al, "I thought I was done running, that's why I came back to Eprus. I thought I had my answer, that I knew now what I didn't back then, but... Now, after yesterday with Mesprit... I just don't know anymore."

"Hey, it's fine." Al reassures, smiling, "Just take your time and you'll figure things out. That's what you always say to me right? You should follow your own advice more, you know?"

"Hehe, how is it Al, that you always seem to surprise me? Your right, I shouldn't be worrying over this."

The pair grin at each other.

"I'm just full of surprises."

They laugh, heading back to the centre.

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** Aw, look their bonding. Al's figuring things out, slowly at least. While Arthur struggles with his past, but he won't be able to hide things from Alfred forever. Really, if Alfred had actually been paying attention to most of what Gilbert told him about Arthur back when he started off, he'd know already. And some backstory on how Arthur caught his Pokemon.

And just who, or __what__ has been watching Al training again? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time, stay awesome!


	27. A new team member?

"Bouffy look out!"

Al calls out hurriedly, as he too, jumps out of the way as the rocks fall down around them.

"Al!" He can hear Arthur shout as they fall.

"Booouuuffff!" His Pokemon huffs, kicking at the dirt angrily.

They're now trap by the large stones surrounding them, the only way out blocked by the Pokemon in front of them.

"Al!" Arthur calls again, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah!" He calls back, the pair of trainers now separated by the rocks. He looks up at the canyons walls and sighs, there's no way they can climb out of here.

"But looks like if we want out, we'll have to fight!" He tries to inform the other as he looks back to the one responsible for separating them.

"Lar..." The small Pokemon glares hard at them.

"Alright, you wanna do this the hard way? Then the hard way it is. Bouffy, Leer!"

"Boouuff!" His pokemon responds, fixing the other with it's gaze and lowering it's Defence. But even as it's Defence is lowered it attacks.

"Laaaar!" It shouts, glowing as it uses Sandstorm.

Al raises an arm to his eyes, squinting into the storm to see his opponent. An ear splitting Screech fills the air, bouncing of the tall stone walls of the Terra Gorge, and harshly lowers Bouffy's Defence.

' _ _Just how did I get myself into this situation?'__

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

A few hours ago...

The pair wander down to the lobby for another day of exploring the park. Katyusha is still away, so, until she's ready, Al want's to keep looking for his next pokemon. However, when they reach the lobby...

"Ah! Jade, put that __down__!" The distressed voice of a girl meets them as the elevator doors open. Curious, the pair follow the sounds of a scuffle to find out what's going on.

"That's enough, stop that!" At the front desk is the girl from before, Adéla.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Al asks as they come over.

She sighs, "No, it's okay. It's just Jade acting up again."

"Lar..."

Looking over the desk, the pair see a very annoyed looking Pokémon staring up at her. Alfred tilts his head as he looks at it, he's definitely seen pictures of one of them before but he's not sure what it's name is.

"Jade? Is that a..." He trails off, not wanting to say the wrong name. Thankfully Arthur answers for him.

"A Larvitar."

"Larvitar huh?" Interest now peaked, he pulls his Pokédex out to learn more.

 _"_ _ _Larvitar, the rock skin Pokemon.__ _ _It feeds on soil. It is born deep underground. It can't emerge until it has entirely consumed the soil around it."__

"That's quite the rare Pokémon, is it yours?" Arthur asks Adéla.

"Oh, no. Jade here is actually an abandoned Pokémon."

"Abandoned?" Al asks, shocked, he can't imagine why anyone would just abandoned their Pokemon.

She nods sadly, "Yes, she was found in the park, tied to a tree and left there, poor thing."

"That's horrible." Arthur scowls.

"Who would do such a thing?!"

"We don't know. Probably someone who decided Jade was too difficult to raise. Though's kinds of people are the worst." She huffs.

"Poor thing..." Arthur says as he reaches over the desk to pet the Pokemon.

"Ah, no don't!" Adéla tries to warn him, but is too late.

As Arthur's hand reaches over, the Larvitar growls and turns, using Bite on him.

"Aaaah!" He quickly pulls his hand back, cradling it to his chest as he curses up a storm.

"Hehe..." Al laughs awkwardly as he looks away, trying and failing not to blush at the words Arthur is spouting, behind the desk, Adéla's face also breaks out in a deep red. She quickly raises her hands to cover her face and apologises.

"Sorry! I should have warned you, Jade __really__ hates strangers, especially if they try to touch her."

"Now you tell me." He grumbles a few more curses, glaring hard at the Pokemon.

"So, if she's abandoned, does that mean she lives in the park now?" Al tries to move the conversation forward, past Arthur's expletives.

"Yes, she does but she likes to come into the centre from time to time. Usually to steal food," she pulls the box on the desk away from Larvitar at this, "or train."

"Train?"

"Mhmm. You've seen the training room right? We sometimes find her in there. She sure can make a mess sometimes."

"Huh," Al crosses his arms over the desk, lying across them to look closer to the Pokemon, "you like to train? I bet your really strong, aren't you?" He smiles.

The Pokemon glares back up at him, then, without warning, grabs the box out of Adéla's hands and jumps over the desk, making for the door.

"Ah! Hey, give that back!" She calls but the Larvitar doesn't stop as it runs out the doors.

"Oh, no... That was the cake for Kats' birthday..." She slumps back into her seat, putting her head in her hands.

"Don't worry! We'll go get it back!" Alfred announces, Arthur giving him a confused look.

"We will?" He asks, razing an eyebrow.

"Yeah! Come on, before it get too far!" Without waiting for a reply, he grabs Arthur's wrist and pulls him to run out the doors.

Adéla watches them go, shaking her head. Oh, if only they know the trouble that that Pokemon can cause...

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Outside the centre Alfred looks around, not seeing the Larvitar.

"Damn it, where'd it go?"

"This way." Arthur says confidently, walking in the direction of the Gorge.

"Huh? How do you know?" Al asks but follows after him anyway.

"Think about it. Larvitar is a Rock and Ground type right?"

"Yeah." He says slowly.

"Well, if it lives in the park but still regularly comes to the centre, then it must live near by right?"

"Yeah, sure, that makes sense."

"Well, the most suitable place for such a Pokemon to live near by would be the Terra Gorge, it's home to all kinds of Rock, Ground and even some steal types."

"Oooh, I get it. So Larvitar must live in the Gorge right?"

"Exactly. Plus," Arthur looks over to him with a smug smirk, "Look at the ground."

"The, ground?" Confused, he looks down.

The soil is slightly muddy today as it had rained last night, but other than that he can't see anything important.

"What? What am I looking for?"

"Tracks. See?" Arthur stops walking and taps his foot at a patch of mud visible from under the grass. In it, is a small indent.

"Huh?"

"This," he says, tapping his foot, "is Larvitar's footprint. It's still fresh, so it can't have passed by here too long ago." He reasons, continuing on his way.

Alfred stares after him as he follows, quite surprised and a little amazed too.

"Wait, so you know how to __track__ now? Dude, what don't you know? Seriously, it's like you know __everything__!"

"Heh," He can see him smirking again, "it's really not that hard. You just have to know where to look."

"Really?" Seeing Alfred's curious look, Arthur's smirk softens into a gentle smile.

"Mhmm. See, it rained last night, which has made the ground soft and a bit muddy. That's good for tracking, since footprints become more noticeable in the wet ground. So, knowing what the print of the Pokemon your tracking looks like, you just need to look for them in the more muddy areas in the locations you know where they should be. Once you find a print, you can tell how old it is by how soft and wet it is. A fresh print like these are well defined and have soft edges to them, large ones may have some water in them too. And older print will be drier and less defined as they get covered and squashed by other things walking over the same area. So it's simply a matter of following the freshest prints in the direction they lead, then just staying alert to find them." He finishes as they reach the edge of the Gorge's canyon.

"Well, looks like we'll have to head on down." He frowns as he looks over the edge.

Looking Alfred can just about make out the mud tracks on the rocks, leading to the edge.

"So it went down over here?" He asks, looking over the edge as well.

"Heh, your learning. And yes."

"So... how do __we__ get down?" Eyeing the sheer drop, Al doesn't think that they can climb down after it. The bottom of the canyon is several hundred feet below, darken from the lack of light reaching it.

"We take the path, obviously." Arthur rolls his eyes as he heads off.

"I knew that." He tries to cover, but he's pretty sure Arthur sees right through him.

"Of course. Come on."

"Right behind you!"

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

The 'path' Al learns, is more like a steep sloping ledge with a rope rail. There's barely enough room for him to fit one foot on it in places and in others, there are large drops between sections, and with the stones being slightly damp from the nights rain, he finds himself slipping more than once.

"This place is a death trap!" He complains as they descend.

Due to the shortness of the ledge, they're forced to walk single file with Arthur in front. As Al grumbles about how dangerous this all is, he's forced to watch as Arthur easily navigates his way down, sure-footed as he goes.

"Ru!" Rufflet is quite happy as he flies along side the pair, unbothered by the tricky path, making Al seriously wish he could fly right about now.

"Honestly Alfred, you really need to stop complaining. It's not that hard."

"Yeah, that's easy for you to sa-AAaaaHHHhh!" He's cut off mid sentence as he slips and falls, just barely catching himself on the ledge.

"Al!" Arthur spins around at his cry.

"Little help here." He tries to say casually, but the strain is clear in his voice.

"Just hold on!" Arthur quickly moves back up to him, crouching down with one hand on the rope, he reaches out to grab hold of Al's arm.

Taking hold of Arthur's hand, Al starts to pull himself up, when the rope snaps and they both fall...

"Ruuuuuffffflet!" Their fall is stopped by Rufflet grabbing hold of Alfred's bag, Al, held up by the straps, tightens his hold on Arthur's hand, quickly bringing his other down to grab the mans wrist. The bird Pokemon struggles to stay flying with the combined weight of both trainers.

"Phew, thanks for the save Ruffy." Al smiles up at his Pokemon in thanks. Looking down, he can see Arthur blankly staring at the ground.

"Drop is down us easily as you can."

"Ruuuuufffff!"

They drop quickly, slowing just before the ground, the three of them landing in a heap.

"Oooowwww." Al whines as he lands, before quickly scrambling back, face red, Rufflet sliding off his back. He had rather awkwardly landed on top of Arthur in a mess of limbs. Arthur didn't seem to care too much as he sat up rubbing the back of his head.

"Okay, so __maybe__ that wasn't as safe as it looked." He grumbles.

"Thanks Ruffy. Why don't you take a rest." Al recalls his tired pokemon to his ball, standing up and looking around. There are rock piles blocking the way forward.

"Well, guess we're not going back up that way."

"Looks like it." Arthur says as he gets up as well.

"Bouffy come on out."

"Bouff?"

His Pokemon looks around questioningly.

"We're kinda stuck down here. Mind helping us find a way out?" Bouffalant huffs, dipping his head slightly in a small nod.

"Thanks!"

They start walking to find a way out, Bouffalant working to move the rocks out of the way to clear the path. They walk for a while, spotting a few Pokémon that quickly hide away as they pass, when suddenly a Rock Slide begins falling.

"Bouffy look out!" The pair jump out of the way of the rocks, separating them from Arthur. Climbing to his feet, Al looks over to see Larvitar blocking the only way out, box on the ground behind it.

"Lar..." It stares challengingly.

"Alright, you wanna do this the hard way? Then the hard way it is. Bouffy, Leer!"

There opponent fights back, creating a Sandstorm and using Screech from behind it's cover.

"Bouffy, Horn Attack!"

Their training from the past few days pays of as, even through the storm, Bouffalant lands the hit.

"Laaaarrr..."

"Rage, Bouffy!"

"Bouuu!" Crying out, Bouffalant charges towards the Larvitar as it uses Rock Slide again.

"Bouffy! Al cries as his Pokemon is hit, but cheers as he sees him break out from the rocks and land it's hit on Larvitar, Attack power rising from being hit thanks to the Rage's effects.

"Alright Bouffy, Leer again!" He calls not letting up.

As his Pokemon follows his command, the Larvitar jumps forward, using Bite to latch onto Bouffy's leg.

"Ah! Kick it off and use Stomp!"

Bouffy tries to shake it's leg free, but Larvitar holds on, not letting itself be thrown off.

"Wow, that's one determined Pokemon." He whistles at Larvitar's persistence.

' _ _Wait, Larvitar is wild...__ ' Alfred smiles as he decides on his plan.

"Bouffy Horn Attack!" He watches as his partner swings his head down to strike the Larvitar latched onto it's leg. The hit sends it flying.

"Alright, here goes!" Al says as he pulls out one of the park balls and throws it at the Larvitar. The ball hit's pulling Larvitar inside, but only for a second before it bursts out again.

"Lar..." It grumbles as it smacks the used ball away.

"Crap. Okay, in that case Bouffy, Rage again!"

His Pokemon charges dodging another Rock Slide and lands the hit.

"Laaarrr..." Larvitar grunts as it struggles back to it's feet.

"Okay, let's try this again!" Al tosses another ball but the Pokemon jumps out of the way, refusing to be caught.

"Lar, Larvitar!" It cries, wanting to continue battling despite the damage it's taken.

"Alright. If you really want to keep going, then we will. Bouffy, Stomp." He watches as Bouffalant easily reaches the Larvitar and brings it's hoof down on it.

"Laaaarrr!" It cries.

Alfred feels bad about hurting it more, but even as it's clear it's losing, Larvitar refuses to give up, using Bite again on Bouffy's hoof. The Sandstorm runs out and dissipates as Al walks over to the pair.

"Okay, that enough Bouffy." He says as he picks the box up, smiling down at Larvitar, "We got what we came for. Larvitar? Your really strong, you know that?"

"Lar?" It looks up at him, releasing Bouffalant from it's Bite, and Al smiles brighter.

"I really do want to catch you, but if you don't want to be caught again, then that's okay. I wouldn't want to make you my Pokemon if you'd always hate it."

"Laaar?" It watches Al as he takes out the last of his park balls and sets it down on the ground.

"See? That's my last one, so I won't try to catch you anymore, so, will you let me heal you up after that battle?"

The Rock pokemon sits as he takes out a super potion and watches as he treats it's wounds.

"There! All better. We'll be off now." He smiles one last time as he turns away, and heads back to the rocks separating him from Arthur.

"Artie! You there!" He calls through.

"Yes! What happened over there?!"

"I'll tell you later! We need to find a way back right now!"

"Stand back! I'll deal with this!"

Confused, he moves back as told and waits. Nothing happens at first, before the rocks are suddenly blasted apart, leaving a clear passage in it's place. Alfred stares at Arthur and Pumpkaboo as the pair casually walk through the gap.

"There, good girl." He says simply, like it was nothing to blast so many large rocks away with such ease.

"Remind me, to __never__ mess with you." He whispered a bit fearfully.

Arthur smirks and laughs, "Hehehe, of course Al. Now shall we go?"

"Yeah, sure."

Al turns to follow him, blinking down at the ground as only his ball remains.

"Aww, Larvitar must have run off." He whines as he picks the ball up.

"Larvitar was here?"

"Yeah, that's what I was doing, we battled and I tried to catch it but I couldn't, so I let it go."

"Huh."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

The pair find there way to the bottom of the path and, much more carefully than before, climb back up, returning to the centre.

"Oh, there you are!" Adéla sighs in relief as they come back in.

"We got the box back!" Al says as he waves it about.

"Oh, thank goodness, you were gone for so long I was beginning to worry."

"Nothing we couldn't handle!" Alfred laughs triumphantly as he sets the box on the desk, Adéla smiling up at him.

"Great, now we have everything we need for tomorrow's party. Kat's been working so hard lately, this'll be the prefect way to relax! I can't wait till she sees all the great work we put into setting this up!" The girl beams as she pulls the box close.

Al and Arthur share a look, a smirk and a nod, and Alfred turns back to the girl.

"Need any more last minute help?" He doesn't have to wait for an answer as Jàn bursts into the room, cries of a disaster about streamers spilling from him. The pair smile as they follow the two off to help with finishing set up for the party. Al grins as he just knows tomorrow is going to be great!

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** Wow, this chapter just really didn't want to get written but I got it out in the end!

Who thought Al was going to catch Larvitar? Now he just has one ball left and a party before his next gym battle. But I wonder, where __did__ Larvitar run off to?

Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time, stay awesome!


	28. Party time

It's early morning and both trainers are up and hard at work. The party is all set up on the 11th floor in what is supposed to be the conference hall. The tables and chairs have been pushed out to the edges of the room, and a wooden stage has been built in the centre to act as a dance floor.

Alfred, sitting at the far end of the room, works on making last minute adjustments to the sound system, while Arthur helps Adéla set the tables. She and Jàn are the only ones at the centre who know about the party. Katyusha apparently has a way of always finding out what's going on in the centre so, to keep this a secret, the two of them decided not to tell anyone else about their plan.

Above them, Arthur's Pokemon are putting the final touches to the decorations, a giant happy birthday banner. Along with it are streamers and lights, just waiting to be turned on. By the door a table has been set up for presents, and finally, the precious cake sits waiting at the back by the sound system.

Arthur nods and stands back, looking over the room.

"Alright, everything is all set here. Al, how's the sound set up?"

The blonde nods as he attaches the last cable, standing.

"Should be all good to go now, I'll just do a quick test."

Turning to the holographic display, he taps a few keys, filling the room with upbeat music for a few seconds before quickly turning it back off.

"All good." He smiles, Adéla grinning back at him.

"I can't thank you guys enough."

"No prob!"

"Happy to help."

"Hehe, now all we have to do is wait for Jàn to tell us when Kat gets back."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

A few hours later and they set their plan in motion. Jàn, who had been keeping an eye out for Katyusha at the front desk, messaged Adéla the second she got back. The boy's then quickly headed out to round up all the centre workers while Adéla distracts Katyusha. Once everyone is gathered and waiting, Adéla pretends to take over at the desk while Jàn comes up with an excuse to bring Kat to the conference room. The boys then take up there positions, Arthur by the lights and Al by the stereos.

The room is filled with quite whispers as they wait, quickly silence by the ding of the elevator.

"Okay, here they come." Arthur whispers to the gathering, peaking out the door, he counts them down with his hand.

'3...2...1...'

He ducks back just as they reach the door and, as one, the room shouts 'surprise' as the door opens.

"Wha?!" Katyusha gasps as she enters, looking thoroughly surprised.

Arthur flicks the lights on as both Adéla and Jàn lead her into the room.

"You didn't think we'd forget your b-day, did you?"

"Happy birthday Kat."

One by one, everyone gives their well wishes as Katyusha is brought into the middle of the room. Deeming it time Alfred joins in with his part, lighting the candles on the cake, he carefully caries it through the crowd, starting of everyone into singing happy birthday.

Once the cake is cut it's time for the party to really get going.

"Alright, time to get this party started!" Al calls, turning the music and party lights on as Arthur switches the rooms lighting back off. Catchy upbeat music fills the room once more as lights of red, green, blue and yellow dance across the hall.

It doesn't take long for everyone to get into the swing of things, Alfred acting as DJ while Arthur helps set out the food —which he thankfully didn't cook— and the stage is soon filled with dancers.

"Ruff!" Even Rufflet is getting into it as he flies around the room.

This sparks the release of dozens of other Pokémon into the hall, causing the party to only become more wild. Alfred can see Pumpkin in the corner trying to pull Torch out of hiding from under a table, Casper laughing like a manic as he loops through the air, occasionally disappearing and making plates and food float until Arthur tells him off.

Out on the dance floor, Al spots Jàn asking Adéla to dance with him, both blushing as she accepts. Deciding he wants in on the fun, he quickly sets up a few tracks in a row before diving out onto the stage as well. Alfred's not exactly what you'd call a 'good dancer' but he sure knows how to have fun, spinning and bouncing his way between the others. He tries to convince Arthur to join him but the other is adamant in his refusal.

"Come on Artie, live a little!" He shouts over the music, showing off his 'moves' as he hops in a circle at the edge of the stage.

"I'm a Ghost type trainer, remember?" He jokes, still not moving from his place by the wall.

"Come oooon!" Al whines, "What do I gotta do to get you to dance with me?"

"Nothing, because I'm not dancing."

"But it's a party! Dancing is in the rules or something."

"Alfred, parties don't __have__ rules. Well not parties like this one anyway."

While Alfred is busy trying to pout Arthur into submission Katyusha joins them.

"Having fun boys?"

"Artie won't dance with me." Al whines childishly, causing Kat to chuckle.

"Is that so? And here __I__ was just looking for a dance partner." She grins mischievously at Al, the blonde catching on to her ploy.

Arthur blinks at the pair as she continues.

"Perhaps you would like to dance with me instead Alfred?"

He grins too as he joins in, "Sure, but can you keep up with my moves?"

That seems to be enough as Arthur coughs drawing attention to himself.

"N-nonsense. If you would like me to dance with you, then it would be my pleasure." Arthur stutters at first, turning savvy by the end. He extends his hand to her in offering.

"Why I would love to." She smiles as she takes his hand, walking up on stage together. As they pass, she whispers to Alfred, "We'll need some good music."

Taking that as his cue, Al dash's back up to the sound system to change tracks, smirking as he goes. As the current song ends, he calls out to the room, "This one's for the ladies!" Hitting play on the slow romantic music he quickly found.

Al watches with a devious grin as Arthur starts to blush at the music. Though he's quite surprised by how quickly he composes himself. The dancers soon all pair up and the slow dancing begins.

Arthur tries to compose himself as he takes up the position of lead, trying not to blush as he dances with Katyusha.

Alfred for his part, gets a kick out of Arthur's embarrassment, while also learning that Artie is actually quite a good dancer. After the song ends, Katyusha parts with him, smiling and thanking him for the dance. Fun over, Al switches the music back to the upbeat songs, while Arthur disappears.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Some time later, Arthur waves Alfred over, from his place by the buffet tables.

"What's up?"

"I think it's time we give this to Katyusha, don't you?" His friend asks, holding up the small box with a ribbon that Ivan gave them to deliver.

"Oh! Yeah." He nods, having almost forgotten about that.

They find Katyusha smiling and laughing with a small group of travellers. After the party got properly started, Jàn made an announcement to the whole centre inviting everyone to come join, now, the room is packed.

"Hey Katyusha!"

She smiles at the pair. "Hey, Alfred. Please, call me Kat."

"Oh, sure thing. We got something for you!"

"Hmm?"

Arthur carefully hands over the gift as he explains, "We were asked to deliver this, they said you'd know who it's from."

Taking the box, she needs only glance at it before smiling the brightest they've seen.

"Oh, Ivan. Even when traveling, you still find ways to send me gifts."

Inside the box, is a necklace made of shimmering red scales.

"Oh, it's beautiful!" She gasps at the gift, delicately holding it up as the scales catch and shine in the moving light, appearing like fire dancing in the wind.

"Oooh," Al whistles at the sight, "what's it made of?"

"Volcarona scales. I've only ever seen pictures of them, I can't imagine how much it must of cost my brother to get this."

"Volcarona?" Arthur asks, "That's a very rare Pokémon."

She smiles, hugging the necklace to her chest, "Yes, I've always wanted to see one, but I never imagined Ivan would get me the scales from one."

"Man, I wish we had time to get you a present too." Al sighs, feeling bad for not having anything to give himself, but Kat shakes her head at this.

"No, you've done more than enough bringing this to me. __I__ should be thanking __you.__ " She grins at him, "And I know just what to do, let's have that gym battle."

"Really?" He near shouts in delight, drawing the attention of the near by party goers.

She nods, causing him to explode in joy, "Yeah, Alright!" The room watch bemused as Al jumps in the air, cheering.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

And so, after a quick announcement, the party moves downstairs to the gym beneath the training room for the main event.

Unlike his battle with Yao, the gym is full of spectators, eagerly awaiting for the battle to start. All the watchful eyes reminds him of the tournament, but this time the stakes are higher. He smiles as they take up their positions, Adéla joining them to act as the official referee. He waves over at Arthur, sitting in the front row, closest to the action, before turning his attention back to the gym leader.

"Kat, I challenge the Terra Gorge gym!" He call across the field, Katyusha nodding in approval.

"I, Katyusha Braginskya, leader of the Terra Gorge Park gym, accept your challenge."

"By official guidelines, this will be a two on two Pokemon battle with no time limit. The battle will be over once both a trainers Pokemon are no longer able to continue." Adéla announces, "Trainers ready?" They both nod, "Then, Begin!"

Katyusha is first to act, "Meet my first Pokemon, Shuckle!" She calls, releasing said Pokémon out onto the field.

Only the red shell is visible at first, before the Pokemon slowly pokes its head out to look around.

"Shuuuuuu?" It yawns, coming out.

"As you can see, I specialise in Bug type Pokémon." She explains as her partner finally comes out fully.

"Heh," Al smirks, "This'll be a piece of cake."

Shuckle's are one of the many Pokémon that live on his families farm, so he knows all about them.

Smiling, Al reaches for Bouffalant's pokeball on his belt.

"In that case, Bou-" He starts to call, when suddenly the light of a pokeball opening emits from his pocket instead.

He stares, completely lost, at the Pokemon now on the field before him.

"Wha- Larvitar?! Huh?"

"Lar..." The Pokemon growls, staring Shuckle down.

Across from them, Kat blinks, equally surprised.

"Jade? Alfred I didn't know you caught our little trouble maker."

"I..." Confused, he pulls the last of his park balls out of his pocket and looks it over, slowly piecing together what must have happened.

' _ _Larvitar must have willingly gone into the ball when my back was turned. How did I not realise?!__ '

"Hehe," He tries to laugh the situation off, "Okay, Larvitar. Or, um, Jade. This is a nice surprise and all, but your not who I was going to battle with."

He raises the ball to recall the Pokemon, but is interrupted by Adéla.

"Sorry Alfred, but now that Jade's out that counts as your choice. So you have to battle with her and another or forfeit."

"What?"

"Those are the rules."

Mouth gaping, he looks around the room trying to work out what to do. His eyes land on Arthur, pleading with him for some sort of help. The blonde gestures to the field, signalling him to keep going.

Al closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, snapping them open again as he makes his plan.

"Alright, then I choose Jade."

"Good, then let's get started." Katyusha smiles at him, before suddenly taking on a serious expression.

' _ _I can do this. So my first time battling with Larvitar is a gym battle, no biggie.__ '

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** Mwhahaha! I lied, he did catch Larvitar, he just didn't know it. And yes, if it wasn't obvious, I low-key ship England x Ukraine, huzza for rare/crack pairs what ever you'd count that as. But fear not for those who don't like it, as this isn't a shipping fic of any kind, that's as far as this'll go. And as always with a new additions, Alfred's character sheet has been updated on my tumblr.

Just how will Alfred fare with Jade in battle? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time, stay awesome!


	29. The second gym

"Shuckle, use Sticky Web on the field." Katyusha calls without wasting a moment.

"Shuuuu." Her Pokemon slowly obeys, spitting thin strings of web out across the field.

Al stared for a moment before taking action of his own.

"Alright then. Jade, use Rock Slide to stop that web!"

But rather than do as told, Larvitar charges straight for Shuckle.

"What, Jade, no! What are you doing?!" He cries, but Larvitar continues to ignore him.

By the time Jade reaches the other side of the field, the entire room is covered, now, it resembles more of the inside of a spiders nest than a battle field.

Larvitar shows no care for this as she charges, making to pounce on Shuckle, but misses as Kat recalls her Pokemon.

"Good, now return." She grins deviously over at Al as she switches balls, "Now, meet my other partner, Surskit."

Just like she said, Kat then switches into her second Pokémon, an energetic looking Surskit.

"Suuuur!" It cries as it effortlessly glides across the webs.

"Uh..." Alfred blanks, not sure what to do.

With Larvitar ignoring his commands, and Katyusha's sudden switch, he's completely lost. She seems to realise this and takes pity on him as she smiles.

"Not what you were expecting? Switches between Pokémon can be an integral part of a battle. Knowing when to switch, and when to stay in, that is what makes a truly skilled trainer." Her eyes sparkle as she grins wider at him, "And being able to adapt to changing circumstances, is what I'm here to test you on. Now, Surskit, Quick attack!"

"Sur!"

Just like that, his reprieve is over as once agin Kat launches into battle, her Surskit practically flying across the field at speed to slam bodily into Larvitar, sending the other tumbling backwards into the webs.

"Lar..."

"Ah!" Al panics, thinking fast.

He needs to get this battle under control __now!__

"Jade, use Sandstorm to hide!"

But again, his Pokemon doesn't listen, choosing to continue to struggle free of the webs, leaving it open to attack.

"Surskit, Bubble Beam!"

"Suuuuurskit!"

Gliding through the webs to be above it's opponent, Surskit prepares to launch off the rapid fire bubbles from its mouth, straight down on defenceless Larvitar.

"Laaar!"

But before the attack can hit, Larvitar fights back, forming a Rock Slide above the pair.

"Quickly, fire upwards!" Katyusha immediately reacts, altering her pervious command from attack to defence.

Surskit flips over on the webs, aiming the Bubble Beam up to deflect the falling rocks. From such closeness and force of collisions, the two moves create a small explosion, pieces of shattered rock firing out in all directions, smashing into the ceiling and raining down onto the field.

Larvitar quickly took advantage of the distraction, managing to free itself, before jumping at the Surskit.

"Surskit, dodge and use quick attack once more!"

"Suur!"

"Jade, dodge!"

Al tries to call, but it's no use, Larvitar is set on ignoring him. Instead standing it's ground and taking the hit, using the contact as a means to latch on with Bite.

"That won't help you." Kat warns, "Surskit, toss Larvitar into the webs."

"Ah!"

Alfred is helpless but to stare, as Surskit effortlessly spins around the web, building speed to throw Jade off, trapping Larvitar in a particularly dense section of the webs.

Jade cries out with Screech in annoyance at being stuck again, but this does little to help it.

"Now, Bubble Beam again."

He has no choice.

"Jade, return!" He shouts as he recalls the troublesome Pokémon to its ball.

Kat nods at the move, "Smart. Against Surskit's water type moves, Larvitar is at a huge disadvantage. Plus, with her not listening, it's best you try battling with another. So, who's it going to be?"

Alfred considers his options.

' _ _Bouffy's strong, but that Surskit is fast, and with all this webbing in the way, he'd be slowed down even more. But then there's Shuckle too. If it knows any rock type moves, Ruffy would be in trouble.__ '

"Ruuuffflllet!"

Beside him, Rufflet chirps excitedly, puffing out his chest.

"Heh." Al smiles, making his decision.

"Alright Freedom, it's your time to shine!"

"Ruuu!"

Across from them Katyusha nods, "Good. Surskit, Sweet Scent!"

"Suuuuurskit!"

Al blinks as a honey sweet smell fills the room, but doesn't dwell on it.

"Ruffy, Peck!"

"Ruu!"

As a flying type, Rufflet is able to move between the webs, avoiding being stuck and slowed down, easily reaching the Surskit below, landing the hit hard to its body.

"Heh, how's that for super effective?" He grins, finally getting this battle under control.

"Hmph." Katyusha frowns, "Surskit, use Infestation!"

Easily bouncing off the webs to absorb the hit, Surskit rights itself before launching the attack.

"Ruffy, dodge!" Al tries to warn, but his Pokemon is slow to move away.

Now, he understands the Sweet Scent, it was a way to get around Ruffy's aerial speed.

' _ _Damn, Katyusha really has this all figured out.__ '

He watches as hundreds of small black objects leave Surskit's body and surround Rufflet, latching into it's feathers.

"Ruuu..." His Pokemon whines as he's attacked, trying to fluff his feathers out to get rid of the invasion, but to no avail.

"Grh, in that case, Ruffy, Aerial Ace!" He shouts, using his trump card.

"Ruuuuuufflett!"

Katyusha is taken off guard by the sudden high speed attack, the bird slamming into her Pokemon and sending Surskit flying to hit the ceiling.

"Ah, Surskit!"

"Su, suuurrr..." Her Pokemon groans, having the cushioning of the sticky web to thank for it's surviving the hit.

"Sweet! Let's finish this! Ruffy use Fury Attack!"

"Surskit, dodge!"

Rufflet loops in the air, swooping back down to strike the Bug Pokemon with its talons, when suddenly, it moves away far faster than it had before.

"Huh?"

Al is just as surprised as his Pokemon.

"Oh!" Kat gasps, then grins, "Looks like we have the upper hand in this terrain."

Confused, Alfred looks about, before realisation dawns on him.

Above them, the ceiling has cracked and water is dripping down, slowly building in intensity.

' _ _That's right. The training room with the pool is above us, we must have cracked right through. This must be the water from the pool dripping down. I hope that the roof doesn't just cave in on us.__ '

He frowns over at Surskit.

' _ _But that means, since Surskit just got faster, it has an ability that boosts it's speed in rain. But it can't hold out much longer, one more hit and it's done. But I could use this...__ '

Above him, Rufflet ruffles his feathers, clearly still being attacked by the Infestation.

"Ruffy, get in close!"

"Ru!"

As Ruffy flies down, Katyusha makes her move.

"Surskit, Quick Attack!"

"Heh, just what I was hoping for. Ruffy, spin around and use Peck!"

Using Surskit speed to his advantage, Alfred lets it come to Rufflet, making it easy to land the finishing blow.

"Surskit!"

Just as planned, Surskit smacks into Rufflet's waiting Peck, causing them to both rebound off of each other.

"Surskit is unable to continue, Rufflet wins!" Adéla calls, and the spectators all cheer at the win.

Alfred blinks, having been so focused on the battle, he forgot he was being watched. He looks over to see Arthur clapping as well, giving a small smile and a nod of approval.

"Not bad Alfred." Katyusha praises as she recalls her Pokemon, "But this battle is far from over. Now, Shuckle, back out you come!"

The lazy Pokémon returns to the field, not appearing bothered by the idea of battle at all.

"Oh Yeah? We can take you!"

"Are you sure?" Kat raises an eyebrow at him, looking to Rufflet.

Al looks too, and suddenly he's not so sure. Ruffy is pretty tired looking, plus he's still taking damage from that Infestation.

He shakes his head, frowning in determination.

"Yeah, we'll just make this quick. Ruffy, Aerial Ace!"

To his surprise, Kat doesn't give a call to her Pokemon, letting the hit land.

"Sssssshhuuuu?" The Pokemon yawns, seemingly unfazed by the attack.

' _ _Did that even do anything?__ ' He worries. ' _ _No, it must have done__ something.'

He frowns and calls, "Aerial Ace again!"

Still, Kat does nothing, letting the land hit, smiling at him.

"Your going to have to do a __lot__ more than that to get past my Shuckle. But now, I think it's my turn, Shuckle, Sticky Web the field again!"

"Shuuuu..." It blinks, slowly obeying.

Now all the web that had been broken down by the previous battle, is replaced and once more the look of a spiders home covers the field.

"Ru-uuufff..." To make matters worse, Rufflet can't keep going for much longer...

"It's now or never," he whispers to himself before calling, "Ruffy! Leer, then Fury Attack with everything you've got!"

"Ruuu!"

The Leer works, lowering Shuckle's Defence, before Rufflet dives down, repeatedly striking it's opponent with its wings and talons.

"A good try, but I'm afraid that still won't be enough. Shuckle, use Struggle Bug!"

Doing as told, the Bug Pokemon grabs Rufflet by the legs as he attacks, pulling him down and biting him as he tries to pull away, finally causing the last of the damage he could take, fainting him.

"Rufflet is unable to continue, Surskit wins!" The crowd ooh and cheer at Adéla's call.

"Great job out there Ruffy, now you take a good rest." He smiles as he recalls his defeated Pokémon, pulling Jade's pokéball out, he stares at it.

"Alright, here goes. Jade, come on back out. It's your time to shine!"

The troublesome Pokémon is released and glares across the field at Shuckle.

' _ _This is it. I have to win this with Jade, even though she doesn't listen. I just have to try.__ '

His Pokemon pulls at the threads of Web already sticking to it and he calls out, "Jade, use Screech!"

But as expected, she doesn't listen and instead charges forward.

"Oh, not again." Al groans, face palming. He watches through his fingers, fearful of what might happen.

"Hmm, still not listening to your trainer? Well this won't take long then. Shuckle, Rollout!"

As Jade charges, Shuckle pushes itself up onto its side, pulling back inside it's shell as it rolls towards Larvitar.

"Jade, dodge and use Rock Slide!"

Miraculously, she seems to obey this time as she does just that, side stepping the rolling shell and creating rocks to rain down, smashing into Shuckle and knocking it out of it's roll.

"Haha, yes! Just like that, way to go Jade!" He cheers in praise at her finally listening to him, though she only glares back at him in response.

"That was good, but I'm afraid that still won't help you. Shuckle, Rest."

"Shuuu..." The Bug Pokemon yawns as it retreats back into it's shell, healing.

This seems to only anger Jade, as she charges once more for her opponent, back to not doing as told.

"Jade, no!" Al thought he could maybe try to reason with her while they have time, or at least make a plan. But before he can even start, Shuckle is awake again.

Katyusha smiles at his clear confusion, "Shuckle, Bug Bite."

As Shuckle grabs Jade, she responds with a Bite of her own.

"How?"

"Shuckle's ability is Gluttony. I always give him a Chesto Berry to hold in battle." Kat explains quickly before turning her attention back to the battle at hand, "Now Shuckle, Sticky Web directly on Larvitar!"

Spitting up more of the sticky threads, Jade is quickly covered from the closeness of the attack.

"Good, now Rollout!"

Katyusha doesn't let up for a single second as she immediately calls her next move.

"Jade!" Alfred cries out to his Pokemon, but with her not listening there doesn't seem much he can do, but he has to try.

"Jade use Sandstorm!" He pleads as she is hit repeatedly by the Rollout.

"Jade, please! We can win this, but we need to work __together!__ "

"Laaarr..."

"You chose to join me, not by force, but willingly! I know there must be a reason, you want to get stronger, don't you? Please, listen to me, together I promise you, you'll be the strongest ever, but we need to work as a team!" Al cries, trying to reach Larvitar, "Jade, I know we can win this! Use Sandstorm, please!"

Then, suddenly, she does just that, glowing and summoning a Sandstorm to cover the field.

"Haha, yes! Now you can get free!"

It's just like he was hoping, the dust from the storm sticks to the webs, clogging them and taking away there sticky-ness, freeing Jade.

Finally the pair start to work as one.

"Now Screech!"

Again she obeys, turning to face Shuckle, her scream loudly filling the room and bouncing off the walls. The crowd cover their ears from it, but Alfred doesn't even notice, too caught up in it all.

' _ _Now this it.__ '

"Jade, use Bite and latch onto Shuckle!"

As Shuckle comes in for another hit with the Rollout, Jade lines up and jumps, biting down on the bug's shell and latching on, the pair of them now rolling together.

"Shuckle, shake it off!" Kat calls out, but Al has a plan.

"Jade, roll that bad boy into the rocks!"

Working together, Larvitar follows Alfred's instructions, kicking the ground as they roll to aim Shuckle, before releasing it toward the rocks from its previous Rock Slide.

Moving too fast to stop, Shuckle rolls right into the rocks, breaking a hole in them and, the water that had pooled in the spaces between the stones from the roof, pours out onto Shuckle.

"Shuckle no!"

"Shuckle is unable to continue, Larvitar wins. The match goes to the challenger, Alfred!" Adéla cries joyfully as the crowd cheer.

"We won?" He blinks, not believing that actually worked, "Haha, yeah, we won! Jade, you were amazing!" He cries out a second later as the realisation sinks in, running up to hug his winning Pokémon.

He spins in joy as Jade begrudgingly sits in his arms, allowing herself to be held.

"That was one thrilling match Alfred. You certainly are an amazing trainer." Katyusha says by way of congratulations, "I know first-hand just how difficult Jade can be, but you were able to work together. And to do so when your first time battling together was a gym battle, that's truly remarkable." She smiles softly at him, "I think your destined to be a great trainer someday."

Alfred beams, thrilled with the praise.

"Now, as recognition for defeating my gym, I present to you, the Swarm badge." Katyusha says, waving Adéla over as she holds out a small grey box with the badge sitting inside, "It's yours."

Grinning from ear to ear, he takes to badge holding it out to admire it.

"Haha, look Artie, badge number 2, Swarm badge!"

His friend smiles, shaking his head at the others antics.

That's about when the roof caved, and the rest of the pool water flooded the field.

What a way to end the day...

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** Two down, six more to go Alfred. Man, that battle was a whirlwind to write. And Al finally getting through to Jade.

Fun fact: This chapter had three scrapped versions for how the battle went down, but this is definitely the best one. I loved writing Ukraine here, she's such a serious battler compared to her normal laid-backness. I tried to give her a very composed and thought out battling style to counter Al's more on the fly style.

And a huge __thank you__ to all my wonderful reviewers, your all awesome!

And hey, if your interested in what the badge looks like, Alfred's character sheet on my tumblr will now be updated with the second badge.

What's next for our heroes? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time stay awesome!


	30. Back at the farm

"More pie sweetie?"

"Yeah!" Felix readily agrees, accepting another slice of the delicious berry pie.

"Felix, that's your fifth one, don't you think you should slow down a bit?" Toris asks, worrying over his friend as the other shows no sign of stopping any time soon.

"No way! This is, like, the best pie __ever!__ "

The brunette sighs, shaking his head at the other.

"What about you dearie, would you like some more?"

"Oh, no thank you, Mrs. Jones."

The woman smiles down at the pair, heading off back into the kitchen. She was quite surprised when the pair turned up at the farm late last night. But as soon as they told her they were friends of her little Alfie, she just had to invite them in to stay the night.

She smiles warmly at the boys as she comes back in with drinks.

"Here you go, fresh lemonade, made right here on the farm."

She places a glass in front of each, then sits down to join them.

"Now, last night you were saying your friends of my Alfie?"

"Eeeah!" Felix nods, trying to speak with his mouth full of pie.

"Yes." Toris decides to take over, while his friend continues to stuff his face.

"Oh, you simply __have__ to tell me all about you!" She smiles excitedly.

"Um, well.." Where to start?

"Don't mind mom, she can get a __little__ carried away."

The pair blink as a teen looking exactly like Alfred with longer hair walks into the room, tailed by a cubchoo.

"Hi, I'm Matthew, Al's __older__ twin."

"Ooohhh! Mattie, yeah!" Felix snaps his fingers as he remembers, "But wait, I thought Al told us __he__ was the older one."

Mat sighs, walking into the kitchen to raid the fridge for breakfast.

"He likes to think that." He calls back, returning to the dining room a few moments later with a bowl of cereal.

"Ooh, I'm just __so__ happy that my Alfie is making friends!" The blonde woman cries.

To the two coordinators, it's all a bit surreal.

It's obvious who Alfred got his energetic personality from, but Matthew is like the complete opposite, appearing far more down to earth.

"So," Mat asks as he sits, pulling cubchoo onto his lap, "Your coordinators?"

"Yup!" Felix answers, finally done eating.

"Cool, I've never met a Pokemon coordinator before." He smiles, glancing at his mother, "Mom's a huge fan though."

She makes this apparent as she squeals in delight.

"Oh, you just __have__ to show me some of your routines!"

Ignoring his mother, Matthew continues, "So how did you meet my brother?"

"We met in Kansa Village during Poké Week. We ended up sharing a room with Al and Arthur." Toris explains, happy to have a point of conversation to start at.

"Arthur?" Mat blinks, remembering the day Al left, "So he found the guy then?"

"Found him?"

"Yeah, when Al set out, the first thing he was going to do was find some guy called Arthur."

The pair of coordinators look to each other, surprised.

"Oh, we thought they had always been friends."

"So Alfie has even __more__ friends?" Mrs Jones asks, but is once again ignored.

"Really? Well, Al has always been good at making friends. I guess that means he's doing alright then?"

"Yeah, he's like, super cool."

Matthew smiles, relieved to here this.

"Oh, Good. I was worried that he'd get scared and end up coming home."

"Why would he get scared?" Toris asks, "He doesn't seem like the type to run home." Then he adds, "Oh! Do you mean the thing about him being scared of Ghost Pokemon?"

"So he's told you?"

Felix grins, "Yeah, he was, like, so scared of seeing Golemas, that he totally missed T's routine the first time."

"Golemas?"

"Mmh." Toris nods, pulling out his pokeball and letting his Golett out.

"Goooolll?"

Upon seeing the Pokemon, both mother and son's eyes light up, and the family resemblance is made very much clear as they both admire the Pokemon.

Mrs. Jones let's out another squeal as she dives out of her seat to get a better look.

"Ooh, your simply __marvellous__! Look at that shine!" She looks up at Toris as she kneels by his Pokemon, smiling her head off, "You clearly take very good care of your Pokemon. Tell me, what do you use to get such a smooth shine?" She asks giddily, running her hand over Golett's rock body.

"Uh..." But before he can answer, Felix cuts him off.

"Heh, you think that's great, you've not seen anything!"

Not one to be left out, Felix pulls out his pokeball and lets his Cutiefly out.

Matthew didn't think it was possible for his mom to get even __more__ excited, but, clearly he was wrong. As she squeals so high pitched it comes out more as a squeak, eyes gleaming as she reaches for the Pokemon.

"Oh my Arceus! It's adorable! __Soooo cute!__ "

Mat's starting to worry that his mom might just explode from being overwhelmed by the cuteness.

Felix grins proudly as the woman holds her hands out to his Pokemon, practically shaking in joy as it lands in them.

Still, Matthew has to admit, he is impressed.

"I've never seen a Cutiefly that was pink before."

"I know right? My Cutie is totes the best."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Once Matthew managed to pull his mom away from the Pokemon, they settled into talking more about how they met Alfred. They spent the day recounting the contest and tournament, of the fun they had, of Toris' win, and Alfred's draw. They also got to learn more about this Arthur character. From what he's heard, Mat thinks that it's good his brother has someone like Arthur to help keep him grounded. Of course, his mom immediately approved of him the second the coordinators mentioned that he knows Francis, nearly passing out in glee.

Later, Mrs. Jones managed to convince the pair to show her some of the routines they're working on for the next contest.

As the sun began to set, the coordinators practiced out in the fields while Mat and his mom watched. Elegant displays of intricate movements combined with a show of powers made both Pokemon shine. The light of the moves mixing with the sunset, it was simply breathtaking.

The pair bowed, and both spectators clapped loudly in approval.

"Wonderful!"

"That was really amazing you guys." Mat smiles, "I can see why you both were finalists."

"You'll definitely win a ribbon this time." Mrs Jones decrees knowingly, "Take it from me. I've watched enough Contests to know a winner when I see one, and you boys are __definitely__ winners."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

A few days after the coordinators left, the video phone rang.

Matthew, as the closest, made his way over to answer, "Hello?"

"Hey, Mattie!" Alfred shouts the second the call connects and he sees who has answered, waving at him wildly.

"Oh, Hey Al." Mat smiles, waving back much more sedately.

"Mattie, dear, who is it?" Their mothers voice calls through from somewhere in the house.

"It's Al!" He calls back and, not a second later the woman bursts through the door, running over to join the call.

"Alfred F. Jones! How dare you not call me before now?! Do you know how worried I've been?" She demands angrily.

Al grins a bit sheepishly back at them, "Hey mom."

"Don't you 'Hey mom' me! How are you? Have you been eating well? Are you wearing clean clothes? And...," She pauses, squinting at the top of her sons head, "what's that on your head?" The woman asks, firing of her questions a mile a minute.

Al grins back at her, "I'm good, yes, yes, and this is one of my new Pokemon." He easily answers back, reaching up to lift something off his head and bring it down to show the camera.

"Say hello to Freedom!"

"Ruuuuff!"

The bird Pokemon chirps happily as it's held out.

"Ooh, aren't you adorable?" Their mother coos at the sight, already in love, anger completely forgotten.

"That's a Rufflet, right?" Mat asks over the woman's nonsensical cooing.

"Yup! Course, I knew a book worm like you would know." Al says playfully as he moves the Pokemon away, setting it down somewhere off camera as he pulls out a pokeball, "And meet my other new partner, Jade!"

Matthew watches as a Larvitar comes out, looking quite grumpy as it is picked up to be shown off.

"Ooh, so cute!" This new Pokemon sets their mother off once more.

Meanwhile Mat can't help but be impressed.

"A Larvitar? Wow, Al. That's quite the rare Pokémon. How'd you catch it?"

He watches as his brother sets his Pokemon down in the same area as his Rufflet, turning back to the screen with his familiar happy grin.

"Hehe, funny story actually. I didn't even know I had Jade until she burst out during my gym battle. Oh yeah! Check it out!"

His brother suddenly turns to rummage in his bag, before spinning back around, holding a badge case out.

"I've now got two whole gym badges!"

Matthew blinks in surprise as he stares at the two shiny badges, sat snugly in the case.

"Two already? You haven't even been gone for two months yet."

"Honey, that's wonderful!"

Snapping the case away, Al's grin only widens at the praise.

"I know right? At this rate, I'll be a Pokemon master in no time!"

Mat can't help but smile at his brother, happy to see that he hasn't changed. But now with no Pokemon to distract her, their mother once again starts in on Alfred.

"Ah! That's right, I'm still not done with you young man! You were on T.V and you never even called to tell me! I could have watch my boy battle live. Now I have to go find a recording to watch." She complains, clearly upset at having missed it.

"Oops, Sorry. With all the excitement I kinda forgot to call." Al laughs a bit awkwardly, looking away and back again, trying not to met their mothers eyes.

Seeing this she softens, smiling gentle at her son, "Alright, I'll forgive you this __one__ time. But at least __call__ me next time something interesting happens."

Al grins, relieved, but before he can say anything, a Pokemon's voice begins to emanate from the speakers.

Odd, it sounds like it's laughing.

On screen, Al blinks then frowns.

"Casper, cut it out." He warns, leaving Mat and their mother confused.

The laughter increases as Al calls out to some one off camera.

"Artie, Casper is messing with my call!"

" _ _Casper, what have I told you about messing with people's phone calls?!__ " An irate voice comes through as another appears on screen.

Before Mat can ask, he jumps when a Misdreavus suddenly appears, taking up the whole screen.

"Misssss."

It laughs as it loops backwards, effortlessly coming to land on the strangers head.

"Sorry about that." They apologise.

"Hey, since your here now, say hi to Mattie and my mom! Guy's this is Artie, the guy I was looking for when I left." Al explains as he pulls the other over.

"Oh, so your Arthur?" Mat asks, now understanding who this is.

"Yes, Hello. It's nice to meet you." Arthur says politely, clearly flustered at having been shoved in front of the camera.

"Hello darling." Mrs. Jones beams at the blonde, "Thank you for taking care of my little Alfie, I know he can be a handful, but he means well."

"Mooooom!"

Mat laughs at his brothers childish whining, but really, he's happy for him. It's clear that his brother is doing well.

"So Al, it's really true, your not scared of ghosts anymore?"

Honestly, he's amazed Al hasn't broken down or passed out from being so close to that Misdreavus.

"Huh? Well sort of, but how'd you know?"

"Your coordinator friends told us."

"Sweet, so Toris and Felix dropped by?"

"Yup."

"Cool!"

"But what do you mean sort of?"

"Oh um well..." His brother trails off, looking unsure.

"We're still working on it." Arthur supplies cryptically.

Not one to dwell on things, their mother moves right along and asks, "So where are you now?"

And Al jumps on the change of subject, "The Terra Gorge Park Centre. We're just about to head out again."

"Where are you off to this time?"

And there's Al's trade mark grin as he beams, "The next gym in Dream dew town!"

"That's right next to the sea. I've always wanted to go visit."

"Hehe, I'll take lots of pictures for you mom."

"Good. Now you boys stay safe!"

"Will do! By mom!"

The call ends, and that's when Mat sees his mother sigh.

"Mom?"

She smiles weakly at him, "Oh, it's alright dear. I just worry about your brother."

He nods, knowing how she feels, but smiles back at her anyway, "Yeah, but he's doing just fine."

She takes a moment to stare at the blank screen before she breathes another sigh, returning to her usual peppy self.

"Your right. Come on, it's time we got started on the winter round up. With out Al, will have even more work to do between us."

He nods, "Sure."

It'll be alright, he's sure. If he knows anything about his twin, it's that Al is resilient. He'll make his dream come true.

But now Matthew has to wonder, what about him?

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** Side story time were not a lot happens. This is just a little transitional chapter, we get to see Matthew again, poor guy hasn't had any spotlight time since chapter 1. And you get to meet their mom, I like to think of her as an extremely peppy adult version of fem America. Also Toris and Felix get to pop up again, their still doing their own thing, but who knows, they may just run back into the boys sometime soon.

What's next for our heroes? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time stay awesome!


	31. Lost, but not quite alone

****Chapter warning: Arthur has a serious potty mouth, you have been warned.****

* * *

"We're lost."

"We're not lost, I just haven't figured out where we are yet."

"That's the same thing." Arthur quips behind him as Alfred wanders on down the nonexistent path.

They have been walking through the dense forest on the other side of the gorge for three days now, and are still no closer to the eastern gate.

Katyusha __had__ warned them to stay on the path, but did Alfred listen?

No, he did not.

"Ruu.." Rufflet chirps as he flies back over to the pair.

"See anything?" Al asks hopefully, but is shot down again when his Pokemon shakes it's head.

"Well, you tried."

"This is still all your fault you know."

"How's it my fault?" He snaps, spinning round on the other.

"Because," Arthur huffs, stopping in front of him and crossing his arms, " _ _your__ the one who ran off the path."

"I wouldn't have run off it if __you__ hadn't fired that energy ball into a nest of Beedrill!"

"It wouldn't have hit them if Jade hadn't __dodged!__ "

"Oh, so now it's __my__ fault for battling right? What, was I supposed to just let him get hit?"

"Yes!" At Alfred's affronted look he quickly snaps, "No! I don't know!" Throwing his hands up in the air, the older blonde storms past him, going off in a random direction.

" _ _Now__ where are you going?!" Al shouts after him.

"I don't know, we're __lost__ remember?!" He shouts back, not even turning to look at the other as he ducks under some branches and disappears.

Al groans, annoyed at both himself and Arthur as he jogs to catch up before he loses him.

He sighs as he follows the others rigid back, keeping his distance while Art silently fumes.

Really, it wasn't either of their faults, it was just bad luck.

Three days ago they had left the centre, with strict instructions from Katyusha to stay on the path as the eastern forest is much denser than the west side, and is extremely easy to get lost in. They had just stopped for a quick lunch break, when Al had suggested they have a battle.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Hey, why don't we have a quick battle before we head off again?" Al asks as he helps put the bowls away.

Arthur shrugs, "Sure, why not."

"Great. I really want to work on training Jade. Our gym battle was awesome and all, but I really want to work on our battle dynamic without all the pressure to win, you know?"

"Hmm, understandable." Arthur nods, now finished packing up, "If you'll be using Jade, I think I'll go with Torch, what do you say?" He asks his Pokemon, receiving a worried tilt of the head in response.

Alfred beams happily, though, he does have to ask.

"Great, but what about Pumpkaboo? I've never seen you battle with her, aside from when you basically blew an new hole in the canyon."

Alfred's not really sure what to make of Arthur's lazy grin when he tells him, "I don't think your ready to go toe to toe with her just yet."

"Oh, really?"

"Really, besides," Arthur shrugs again, "Torch could use the battle, your always so shy outside of it, it's good to get you out of your shell once in a while, right lad?" He asks, directing his attention to his hiding Pokemon, poking him in the side as he talks.

Since he's not really bothered either way, Al simply smiles.

"Fine by me. Let's do this Jade."

"Lar?"

His Pokemon glares as he picks her up, running a short distance away, ready to battle. Jade, now catching on, gladly jumps down from his hold, prepared to fight anyone that comes her way.

"Heh, shall we?" Arthur grins as he moves into position.

"Since I'm a gentleman, you can have the first move." He calls as soon as Lampent is ready.

"Alright, then. Jade, Sandstorm!"

"Laaar!" Working on the tentative trust they have, his Pokemon listens, glowing and rapidly causing a fierce storm to whip up around them.

"Laam?" Torch sounds worriedly, looking around as it becomes harder to see the small Pokemon.

"Stay calm," Arthur cautions, "they're using the storm for cover."

"Heh, having trouble?" Al teases, before calling, "Screech!"

"Laaaaaarrrr!" The loud cry of his Pokemon fills the forest a second later, the exact location of the sound hidden by the wind from the sandstorm distorting it and making it difficult to pinpoint.

Even so, Alfred expects nothing less when neither Arthur or his Pokemon are faves by all this. The storm also makes it difficult to see across to his friend, but even so, he hears his voice loud and clear when he calls his move.

"Torch, Energy Ball at one o'clock."

"Laaampent!" Through the sand, the green ball flies at speed, surprising Alfred and hitting it's mark.

"Laaarrr..." His Pokemon cries as she's hit, knocked backwards by the force of the super effective move.

"Jade!" Al shouts as he worriedly watches his Pokemon get back up.

' _ _Damn it, we're still all over the place. But Arthur and Lampent are in perfect sync. Even when I took away their visibility and made it hard to find us.__ ' He frowns, looking through the sand to his friend, ' _ _But he doesn't look bothered at all. How is it that Artie is always so composed in battle?__ ' He shakes his head, trying to focus. ' _ _Doesn't matter, we're still gonna win this!__ '

"Jade, Rock Slide! Force that ghost to go where __we__ want!" He calls, and watches happily as she does as he says.

"Laaarrvitar!" Keeping low and using the still raging storm for cover, Larvitar generates the rocks above Lampent, forcing the ghost Pokemon to dodge downwards and move closer to the centre of the battle area.

"Haha, now Bite!" He calls, not missing a beat, Larvitar following through as well.

Now trapped by a ring of rocks, Lampent has no where to run, but Arthur has no intention of running.

"Wait for it," he quietly warns, "Now, Inferno into the ground!"

"Laa!" When Larvitar is only a few steps away, ready to jump and latch on, Torch quickly generates a ball of fire, and as Jade jumps, he forces in into the ground, creating an explosion, the force of which blasts the air borne Larvitar backwards and clears the field of the Sandstorm.

No longer trapped, and clear to see the field once more, Lampent rises back up into the air, already knowing what his trainer is about to call.

"Energy Ball."

And he follows through, creating the glowing green ball, and throws it straight at the prone Pokémon.

"Quick, Jade, dodge!" Al calls, and just in time.

Seeing the incoming attack, Larvitar quickly pulls itself up and dives out of the way, causing the ball to sail past it into the trees behind.

"Heh, you won't get us that easily!" Al calls, before the sound of buzzing fills the air, "Huh? What's that?"

He knows it's bad when Arthur's eyes widen and he shouts, "Run!" Grabbing their bags and legging it.

Having only seen Arthur react like that once before, Al doesn't waste any time in running after him, quickly recalling Jade as he passes.

Looking over his shoulder as he catches up to the other, he's pretty sure his eyes bug out at the sight.

A horde of __very__ angry Beedrill chasing them.

"Aahhh!"

He __may__ have screamed a bit, running as fast as his legs could carry him.

And they had ran, but the openness of the path meant that they couldn't lose them, so, he had made the decision to get off the path.

Arthur was forced to follow and, eventually, they did lose the horde, but also lost their way in the process. They had tried to find their way back, but, no such luck.

And now, well...

Three days of walking through a dense, difficult to navigate and even harder to walk through forest will set anyone on edge.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Arthur's angry stomping comes to an abrupt end as he suddenly drops down to sit on a rock, head in his hands.

The change in mood is so sudden, Alfred's not quite sure what to make of it at first.

"Hey, look. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have blamed you. I'm the one who took us off the path when we were told not to." He says softly as he comes over to sit beside the other.

He can hear Arthur give a heavy sigh, his whole body slumping with it.

"No, this isn't your fault." His voice is muffled slightly by his hands as he talks.

"Well, don't worry about it. We'll find our way again, it'll just take a bit longer." He tries to reassure but Arthur just slowly shakes his head.

"No. I've been taking my anger out on you when this has nothing to do with you."

' _ _Nothing to do with me? What?__ '

Alfred is confused, considering they're current situation has __everything__ to do with him being an idiot.

"Hehe..." Arthur laughs, but it's empty sounding and devoid of any mirth, "I'm such an arse."

He sits up and gives Al a smile, but it doesn't reach his eyes.

"Come on, we won't get anywhere sitting around here."

Alfred watches, now worried as his friend stands and starts walking again, but this time much slower than before.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

After that, Arthur didn't say much. Alfred tried talking to him, but he would get little more than a 'hmm' of agreement out of him. It's like he was back at the centre where he just shut down on him.

So he tries a different approach.

He grabs Arthur's arm, stopping him from going any further.

"Artie, you know you can talk to me. Something's bothering you, I know it is. Just," He pleads, "just talk to me. It doesn't matter if I don't understand it, just get it off you chest."

He thinks it didn't work at first when Arthur says nothing, before he sighs.

"When I was Six, I was brought out to the woods, with no explanation. My father left me there, alone, lost, for four days." He sighs again as he slowly starts walking.

Alfred stares, quickly moving to walk beside him.

"Why?" He whispers, shocked that anyone would do that.

Arthur looks up, staring at the blue sky just visible through the canopy of leaves high above their heads.

"It was a test. My brothers went through the same thing, but my father was hardest on me." Al can see the shadow of a smile on his face as he thinks back, "That was when I met Pumpkin. She's been with me ever since." But the smile vanishes as he frowns, looking forward once more, "It wasn't until I was older that I learnt I was left for __twice__ as long as my brothers. And __nothing__ I __ever__ did was good enough to match up to them." His frown deepens as his voice rises in volume, "It was always; Arthur why can't you do this? Arthur, why aren't you as good as them? Arthur, why aren't you __better__ at this by __now?!__ " He's near shouting as he kicks a stone across the leaf litter. "Even after Peter was born, I __still__ couldn't match up, and he was just a __baby!__ "

Alfred watches his friend, chest heaving as he ends, face red and full of anger and hate. At Al stare, he snaps, throwing his arm out, "And I was __sick__ of it! So I ran away! Ran all the way to __fucking__ Hoenn! But then I thought; 'You know what? I'm __done__ running.' So I came back. But now! Now, my __fucking__ father knows I'm back. He __knows,__ because of- _ _fucking__ -course he can't just leave me the hell alone!"

Alfred can't watch this anymore.

He gently but firmly pulls the still fuming blonde into a tight hug. He doesn't even flinch as Arthur struggles, screaming in his ear.

"Why can't he just let me do what __I__ want for once in my __fucking__ ** _ _ **life?!**__** "

"I'm sorry." He doesn't know what else to say, but he knows Arthur needs to hear it.

They can work on finding a way out later, right now, this is more important.

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** Welcome to angst corner, population: Arthur.

So, yeeaah... Arthur's home life wasn't great. Or at least, his perception of it wasn't. After all, every story has two sides. But fear not, for Alfred's here, to be the pal he needs right about now.

What's next for our heroes? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time stay awesome!


	32. Don't mess with Arthur

Once Arthur had calmed down, they returned to looking for the way out, or at least the path. Maybe fate decided to give them a break, or maybe they just got lucky, but not five minutes later, they emerged out onto the path, right in front of the eastern gate.

"Finally." Arthur sighs, and Al couldn't agree with him more.

Wandering around in the woods completely lost is __not__ fun. Still, he keeps a watchful eye on his friend as he goes about keying them out of the park.

He seems fine, back to his usual snarky self, but now Alfred knows better. Arthur always acts so calm and composed, but for him to just explode like that...

Who knows how long he's been carrying all this around for.

He feels bad for the guy, compared to him, Al's home life is a dream.

He's snapped out of his musings by the click of the gates opening.

"Al? You coming?"

"Uh, yeah!"

He trots along after the blonde, mind still fixated on what just happened. He wants to help, but he's not sure how. He doesn't have all the facts, and he doesn't want to ask and risk sending Artie into another explosive breakdown.

But he's pretty much certain at this point that Arthur is a mind reader, as, with outlooking back, he says softly, "You don't have to worry about me. I know you want to help, and I'm grateful for that, really. But there's nothing you can do."

"How?" He asks, Arthur turning around to walk backwards as he gives him a sad smile.

"Because that's just like you Al. I think it's safe to say I know you well enough by now to know what your thinking. Hehe," His smile brightens as he talks, "Your an open book. But that's what makes you __you.__ "

Al frowns, trying to think of a comeback.

"Well, if I'm an open book, __your__ a thousand piece jigsaw, and I don't have the box to know what picture I'm supposed to make."

"Oh, __really?__ I don't think I'm __that__ complicated." He grins as he spins back around, Al moving to walk beside him.

"You are." He smiles cheekily, "But I think I have all the edges now. I'll figure you out, eventually."

Arthur nods, "Eventually." He agrees quietly.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

The walk to Dream Dew town is surprisingly quiet, but then, for a place all about laid-backness, maybe that's to be expected. Though, that's not to say it was __completely__ uneventful.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Jigglypuff, Double Slap!"

"Ruffy, Aerial Ace!"

Alfred grins happily as his Pokemon lands another successful hit, sending their opponent flying, fainting it.

"Jigglypuff is unable to continue, Rufflet wins." Arthur calls from the side, refereeing Alfred's battle with another passing trainer.

"Aww." The young girl whines.

"Better luck next time kid." He doesn't stop grinning as they depart, heading of back down the road.

"Yes! That's our fifth win in a row!" He cheers, bouncing as he goes, Rufflet happily flying along side them.

"True, but don't let all this winning go to your head." Arthur smirks at him, "Your ego is already big enough."

"Ha! I'm __so__ on a roll. I bet I could take anyone on and win right now!"

"Is that so?" A voice asks from out of nowhere.

"Uh, who said that?"

"I did."

Out of the sky, an Aerodactyl drops down in front of the pair, a man riding atop it.

"Aww, cool!" Al gasps, both he and his Pokemon clearly in awe of the man and his much larger partner.

The man grins lazily at them.

"Heard you saying you could take on anyone and win, wanna put that to the test?"

"Sure!"

"Heh, good. Let's make this more interesting shall we? How about a double battle?"

"A double battle?"

Now he's not so sure, he's never done a double battle by himself before.

"Can't handle it?" At the man's teasing, all doubt leaves Alfred and is quickly replaced with a cocky certainty.

"Of course I can."

"Alfred, you just finished a battle, you should give your Pokemon time to rest." Arthur warns, but he just waves the other off.

"I'll be fine, they're still good to go. Let's do this!" He calls as he moves back, getting into position.

"Heh." The man smirks as he climbs off his Pokemon.

Arthur, though against it, moves to be referee again.

"Two on two, winner is the first to knock out both their opponents Pokemon, sound good?" The man asks and Alfred readily agrees.

"Hey, let's raise the stakes some more. 1,000 credits to the winner."

"Alfred don't!" Arthur snaps warningly, but is too late as Alfred gives a thumbs up of approval.

Not worried in the least that he just bet the last of their money on this battle, he sends out his Pokemon.

"Bouffy and Jade, time to shine!" He calls as he tosses both pokéballs into the air, releasing his partners.

"Hehe," The man laughs darkly, knowing he's won already, "go, Aerodactyl, Rhydon." He says as he tosses one ball into the air while his other Pokémon moves forward.

Al stares worriedly, the two large Rock types easily dwarf both his Pokemon.

"Here we go. Aerodactyl, Ancient Power on that puny Bouffalant, Rhydon, Earthquake."

"Quick, dodge you guys!"

Al calls, but it's no use. As the Aerodactyl takes to the air and forms massive rocks, the Rhydon stamps its leg, sending out shockwaves, making the ground shake. Bouffalant and Larvitar try to run, but it's impossible for them to escape the Earthquake, or dodge effectively, making them both easy targets for Aerodactyl, who throws the rocks with perfect aim at Bouffalant, hitting it's target.

"Bouffy, Jade!"

Both his Pokemon struggle to stand, but the man doesn't let up.

"Again!"

Overwhelmed, Alfred is helpless as his Pokemon are both hit again in seconds, fainting.

"Bouffalant and Larvitar are unable to continue, Aerodactyl and Rhydon win." Arthur bites out, clearly angry.

"Heh, seems you lost." The man grins evilly down at Al as he worriedly looks over his defeated Pokémon, "Now pay up." He snaps, all semblance of nicety gone.

"Uh..." Completely lost, Al is thankful when Arthur steps in front of him, placing himself between Al and the man, glaring the other down.

"Your a __sniper.__ " He angrily accuses.

Al blinks as he hears this, looking up at his friends back. Even from behind, he can tell that Arthur is __pissed.__ Defensively standing in front of him.

And he has every right to be. Alfred's heard that term before, his parents made a big deal about him being cautious of 'snipers'. People who trick you into accepting challenges they know they'll win and betting on them to take all your money. He feels like such an idiot for not realising it earlier, the guy was probably following them from the sky, waiting for the right moment to challenge him when his Pokemon were weakened and he was overly sure of himself from all the wins.

"So what if I am? I beat him fair and square, and he agreed, so __pay up.__ "

And that's the problem with 'snipers', they __are__ technically following the rules of engagement, so it's hard for the law to crack down on them. Now he has to hand over all the money they have left.

Arthur glares hard at the man, before saying something Al __never__ thought sensible __Arthur__ would say.

"I challenge you, double or nothing."

"Wha? Artie you can't!"

It's bad enough that Alfred fell for the trap, but everyone __knows__ you don't willingly __challenge__ a 'sniper', it's a surefire way to get beat and lose __everything__ of value on you.

The man grins evilly again.

"Heh." He laughs, "You __sure__ you want to do that?"

" _ _Triple__ or nothing." Arthur bites out.

"Heh, your loss."

And so, without another word, Arthur an the man move into position, Al quickly recalling his Pokemon and moving out the way.

He's __never__ seen Arthur this angry before, he's seen him upset and angry, and annoyed and angry, but this was different. This was pure, unadulterated __fury__ in his eyes. It kind of scared Alfred.

The man grins wickedly as he sends out his Pokemon.

"Aggron, Rampardos, let's crush this kid."

The two powerful looking Rock types shout loudly as they emerge.

"Aggggron!"

"Raaaaam!"

"You use Pokemon as nothing but __tools__ to extort money out of innocent people. You are the __worst__ kind of trainer there is." Arthur spits out, voice laden heavily with venom.

"Yeah, Yeah. Talk all you want, it won't change a thing. Now hurry up and send out your Pokémon."

"Pumpkin." He practically growls, and, without even reaching for the ball, his Pokemon bursts out.

Alfred is taken aback, Pumpkaboo looks just as furious, a surreal sight, since he's only ever seen the sweet Pokémon act kindly.

"And?" The man drawls.

"Pumpkin is all I need."

Alfred's mouth drops open at this. ' _ _Just what is Artie__ thinking?'

"Heh, suit yourself." The man shrugs, before immediately giving his first command, "Aggron, Ice Beam, Rampardos, Blizzard, freeze that sucker."

The pair attack as one, sending the two strong ice moves straight for Pumpkaboo.

Alfred watches worriedly, but Arthur says nothing, only narrowing his eyes.

Without being given a single command, Pumpkaboo engulfs itself in flames and charges right on through the oncoming attacks. The heat from her attack counteracts the ice moves, protecting her from harm as she charges, gaining speed, she slams into Aggron's chest with such force it's sent flying into the air. Not missing a beat, and still without being verbally told what to do, Pumpkin rotates in the air as she is still carried by the momentum of her previous attack, and rapidly fires a powerful Shadow Ball at the Rampardos' side, knocking it to the ground.

"What?!" The man shouts, but is largely ignored.

Alfred whips his head back and forth as he tries to watch Pumpkaboo and Arthur at the same time. He sees Arthur's eyes narrowing again as he frowns more, eyes flicking down to the prone Pokémon.

Seeming to somehow know what he's thinking, Pumpkaboo instantly flies up, spinning as she fires a strong Razor Leaf down on the pair.

"Argh, Get up!" The man snaps at his Pokemon, and they slowly climb back to their feet.

"Aggron use Iron Tail now!" He snaps.

"Aaagg!" It cries, spinning and slamming it's tail into Pumpkaboo before she can get away.

"Puuum!" She cries as she's hit and Al hears Arthur groan, his friend raising an arm to hold his side.

But even as she's hit, Pumpkin fights back. In the moment of contact, Pumpkaboo stuck a Leech Seed to Aggron's tail, the seed sprouting as she's knocked through the air, growing over the Pokemon and slowly draining it's energy, allowing Pumpkaboo to heal little by little.

"You!" The man barks, annoyed.

Alfred watches as Arthur smirks, tilting his head slightly. In response, Pumpkaboo wraps herself with Flame Charge again and, oddly, starts charging about in the air high above the two Rock Pokemon, rapidly gaining speed.

"You think you can get away from me up there? Heh," The man grins wickedly again, "Aggron Aerial Ace, Rampardos, Head Smash!"

"Artie look out!" Al calls, feeling the need to warn the other.

But he needn't have bothered. As both heavy rock types jump up to strike, Pumpkaboo drops down at high speed, using Flame Charge to meet the Aggron head on, causing the Rampardos to miss.

The speed and power with which Pumpkaboo hits the air borne Aggron creates such force that it's sent hurtling back down to the ground, creating a crater in which it lies, defeated. Still not pausing for a second, Pumpkaboo turns on Rampardos, firing another series of Shadow Ball and Razor Leaf combo one after the other. The combined force defeats the second Rock Pokemon.

The man stares, his Pokemon defeated, and Pumpkaboo looking barely touched.

"What?!" He shouts, angry at his loss, "And you call __me__ a 'sniper', your even worse than me!"

Arthur just glares, Pumpkaboo dropping down in front of the man's face.

"Leave," he finally grinds out, "I never want to see your face __again.__ And if I __ever__ hear you 'sniping' again, then you better hope I don't find you. Or next time I won't be so __lenient.__ " He warns dangerously.

It's certainly enough to make the man realise the situation he's in, quickly climbing back on his Aerodactyl and flying off again with out another word, looking suitably scared off.

As soon as the man is gone from sight, Arthur suddenly drops to the ground, leaning across his legs as he sits, panting.

"Whoa, Hey! Are you okay?" Al asks hurriedly, running to the blondes side.

"Fine...just...been...awhile since...I've done that...for so long..." He whispers out between gasps for breath.

"Heh, well, you sure showed him."

"Hmm..." Arthur smirks weakly as he flops back to lie spread out on the grass.

"Puuum..." Pumpkaboo sighs as she floats over, dropping down to lie on Arthur's stomach.

"Geez, you'd think you guys just ran a marathon." Al jokes.

"Mhm, marathons are easier..." Arthur sighs, frowning, "We're definitely out of practice." He adds, more to himself than anything.

Alfred gives him a disbelieving look as he sits beside his tired friend.

"You call __that__ out of practice? You guys were in __perfect__ sync. How'd you even do that?" He asks, leaning over Arthur's head to look down at him.

But Arthur just sighs, closing his eyes. Despite the cold, he falls asleep and instant later, Pumpkaboo right along side him.

Alfred sits back and looks around, the grassy field their in is completely empty of any other people, even the wild Pokémon are few and far between.

Shrugging, he twists, flopping back to lie head to toe beside Arthur. Maybe a quick nap wouldn't hurt?

By the time they woke up, the sun was setting and a few hours later, they arrived at their destination.

Dream Dew Town, where Alfred hopes to win his next gym badge.

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** And back to our usual affair. After last chapter, Arthur was in need of letting of some steam. But yeah, it's best __not__ to piss him off. Like stated last chapter, he's had Pumpkaboo since he was six, four years before most trainers, so she's __very__ powerful. And just a little headcanon of mine on how people __might__ take advantage of winning money through battles.

But who might the next gym leader be?

And what's next for our heroes? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time stay awesome!


	33. Dream Dew Town

Despite having its own seaside resort, Dream Dew town is well known for being a sleepy place. So, it's no surprise when the pair walk into town and don't find a single light on. The place is completely silent apart from the distance sound of the sea not too far off and the general sounds of night. The quiet, along with the complete darkness and lack of people, would give the town an eerie feel, if it weren't for the soft lap of the waves, instead making the place feel relaxed,as if this is how it's meant to be.

They both let out yawns as they wonder down through town, looking for the Pokémon center, Pumpkaboo's soft light the only thing guiding them. Normally, it wouldn't be hard to find a center, since they usually always have their lights on 24/7, but here, that's not the case.

It takes the pair of tired trainers a few minutes of searching before they find the darken building. Luckily though, despite the darkness, it's still very much open. Inside, there are a number of other equally tired looking trainers milling about the darken modest sized lobby. If Arthur weren't so drained, he would point out that this is more your average type of center to Al, but instead all he does is give another long yawn as they walk up to the desk.

What is unusual for this center, is the Umbreon dozing peacefully on the side of the desk, the collar it's wearing marking it as one of the center's Pokemon, but no sign of nurse Joy.

"Um, Hello?" Alfred asks, confused.

At his voice, the Umbreon wakes, looking up at the pair questioningly.

"Umbre?"

"Uh, where's nurse Joy?"

"Um, umbre." It answers, tapping it's paw on a note beside it attached to the desk.

 ** **Gone to bed.****

 ** **If it's an emergency ring the bell.****

 ** **If you need a room or to check your Pokémon in, Umbreon will take care of it.****

 ** **See you in the morning.****

 ** **Nurse Joy.****

"Oh." Al blinks sleepily down at the note, brain trying to process this information.

"Well, we'd like a room and to check our Pokémon in." Arthur more states than asks, clearly too tired to bother with niceties.

"Umbreon." The Pokemon jumps down off the desk, disappearing behind it for a moment before jumping back up, a room key in its mouth.

"Uh, thanks." Al says as he accepts the key.

"Um, umbre." It jumps down again, returning with a tray for pokeballs, holding it out to the pair.

Shrugging, they place their balls in the tray, leaving Rufflet and Pumpkaboo with Umbreon as it leads them through the door to the clinic rooms. As their Pokemon leave to be taken cared of, they head up the stairs on the other side to find their room.

"I'm beat..." Al sighs as he drops down onto one of the beds.

Arthur only grunts in response as he too, collapses onto the other bed, both falling asleep where they lie seconds later.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Morning, and Alfred is surprised when he's the first one up, Arthur still sound asleep in the bed across from him. Now that the room is lit by the light of day, he can see it properly for the first time. The room seems to be your standard affair, two beds with a window between them and a desk in the corner. It's slightly smaller than the Park Centre's room was, but still bigger than the tiny room in the Kansa Village center.

Knowing the dangers of a just wakened Arthur who hasn't had tea yet, Al smartly decided to let him be. Instead, he makes it his first mission of the day to find the cafeteria and bring a cup back before daring to wake the lion.

Even though it must be nearly midday, the place is still so quiet it might as well be early morning. He spots only a handful of trainers in the cafeteria, all looking like they just woke up as well, and only passes one on his way back up.

Bracing himself, he gently wakes his friend.

"Artie." He whispers, slowly raising his voice until the other stirs.

"Mh, w'at?" The messy blonde grumbles, green eyes little more than slits as he glares at the one responsible for waking him.

"I brought you tea." He says, holding the cup out as a means of defence.

Arthur grumbles as he sits up, practically snatching the precious liquid from Alfred's loose hold. After a few long sips, he sighs, already looking far more relaxed and friendlier. And Al let's out a breath in relief, now that the immediate danger is passed, he grins.

"Ready to check this place out?"

"Mhm, I suppose you'll be wanting to visit the gym first?"

"Yup, just as soon as everyone is all good to go."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Now that they can see the place in the daylight, Al blinks when they step out side, looking around. They never notice when they first arrived, but the architecture of the town is much different than that of everywhere else they've been so far. The buildings are all rounded, painted a deep sea blue and topped with smooth grey domes. Even the Pokémon center, only distinguished by the large PMC letters written beside the door, no wonder they had such a hard time finding it.

"Wow, this place is cool!"

"It is interesting." Arthur agrees, "I had seen pictures of the seaside resort before, but it really doesn't compare to being here."

"Why'd they build them like this?"

"Well, from what I can remember, the colour is to absorb light, making the town appear darker. And the round design I think was something to do with sound, so that the town was quieter, even when busy."

"Huh." Al spins slowly, looking around, "So where do you think the gym is?"

"Not sure, it's been awhile since I read anything about the place, and that was before the gym was built.

"So we just gotta look around a bit, no problem."

Arthur nods, before suddenly remembering, "That's right, we also need to buy some more supplies. Let's split up for now, I'll go buy what we need and you can look for the gym. We'll meet back by the statue in the centre of town in a hour." He suggests.

"Wait, statue?"

"Don't worry, you'll know it when you see it." With that, Arthur turns and walks off, leaving Alfred with a dozing Rufflet on his head to find the gym.

"Hmm. Well, looks like it's just you and me, Ruffy."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Not exactly the most navigation savvy, Al ends up wandering in a spiral around town, slowly weaving his way towards the centre of town.

"And where __is__ the gym?" He wonders out loud as he walks through the maze of buildings all looking exactly the same.

' _ _But I haven't found any statues either. Maybe that's where the gym is?__ '

After a bit more getting himself lost, Alfred finally finds the centre of town.

"Whoa..." He gasps up at the giant statue in the very centre of the plaza like area.

On a large round pedestal, is a black metal sculpture of the legendary Pokemon Darkrai. Looking up at the massive statue, Alfred can't help but feel like it's staring at him. On the pedestal, a golden plaque bears an inscription.

"We give thanks to the protector of our town, Darkrai. When the night is at it's darkest, you are the light which guides us." He reads.

"Protector huh?"

"Yes, Darkrai is our guardian." A tired sounding voice says quietly behind him.

"Really?" Al asks, spinning around to see the sleepy man standing behind him, looking up at the statue.

"Yes," He nods, looking Alfred in the eye, "With out Darkrai, this town would not exist." He yawns, "Tell me young man, what is your dream?"

"Dream? To become the world's greatest Pokémon master." he grins.

"Mhhmm..." The man hums, looking like he might just fall asleep while standing, "A noble dream that many have, but few achieve. Tell me then, what makes you special? What makes __you__ different, that you may be destined for greatness, when so many others have failed?" He asks, but sounds completely bored, as if Alfred wasn't worth his time.

Though he's annoyed by the man's attitude towards his dream, he finds himself faltering, unable to answer. What __does__ make him different?

Apparently this man is another mind reader like Artie, as he seems to know what Al's thinking.

"You reach for greatness, yet you do not know what makes you deserving of it." He shakes his head, "Until you truly understand __what__ makes __you__ great, you will never achieve your goal."

"Oh yeah? An what makes you so sure?" He snaps, becoming more and more annoyed the more this man talks down to him.

He just shakes his head again, yawning, "I do not need to know anything. I have seen it plenty of times before to be assured that it will be the same again for you." Green eyes narrow at him, "And it will remain the same unless you further your understanding."

"And why should I listen to you?"

"Listen or do not, it makes little difference to me. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be on my way." And with that, he casually walks off, leaving Al feeling a bit shunted.

He doesn't realise how long he spends staring at the ground until he hears Arthur talking.

"Al? Is something wrong?" He asks beside him, arms full of shopping bags.

"Huh? On, no. Nothing." He shrugs.

Arthur looks him over with an unreadable face.

"Well, as long as your sure." He finally settles on, "Did you find the gym?"

"Uh, no, not yet. I got...sidetracked."

"By the statue?" Arthur asks, but Al gets the feeling he knows that's not it, but is simply trying to redirect the conversation. Something he's grateful for.

"Yeah," he lies, looking back up at it, "It's pretty cool."

The blonde hums, also admiring the sculpture, "It's interesting don't you think? Darkrai is known for causing nightmares, yet here, it's viewed as their protector. In a town as sleepy as this, you'd think they'd fear it. Maybe there's more to Darkrai than the legends tell."

Alfred stares, "They furthered their understanding." He whispers.

"What was that?"

"Uh, Nothing." He smiles, but it comes off as a bit forced, "Let's just go look for that gym."

"Uh, sure." Arthur gives him an odd look, but says nothing more as he follows after Alfred in a random direction.

Maybe there is something more to all this, but he'll figure it out later. Right now, he has a gym to find.

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** They made it to the next town in one piece. So yeah, if my writing is any good, you can probably guess who the next gym leader is going to be and what type of gym it'll be. If not? Well, you'll find out soon enough.

Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you chose to celebrate! See you all in the new year.

R & R people.

Till next time stay awesome!


	34. Finding the gym

After scouring the whole town and not finding anything __close__ to a gym, Arthur then suggested that it might be down by the seaside resort. Why he didn't think to mention this __before__ they spent the whole day wandering around like idiots, he'll never know.

The seaside resort, Dream Waters, is only a 5 minute walk outside of town, down the gentle sloop to the sea. The buildings here are much the same style as the town, only larger as a number of them are hotels with sweeping views of the horizon. Smaller ones are dotted about between the hotels, all shops selling a wide variety of seaside based souvenirs and treats.

It's also a few degrees colder here, thanks to the cold air blowing in off the sea, making Alfred shiver slightly as he pulls his jacket around him more. And since it's the off season, only a handful of people are milling about, even most of the shops have a look of being closed despite having 'open' signs outside.

As the sun sits low in the horizon, they continue to meander down the resort until they come across a rather inconspicuous looking building. Alfred wouldn't have even noticed it if Arthur hadn't stopped to look at the small handcraft stall across from it. The rather plain building only distinguish by a slightly weather-worn wooden chalk board outside it. Scrawled in large carefree hand writing was a message of:

 ** **Sleep clinic****

 ** **And****

 ** **Pokemon gym****

Alfred's not sure what a sleep clinic is, but he doesn't really care since he's now found the gym.

"Artie, look. It's over there!" He calls, gleefully pulling his friend away from the stall and over to the gym.

"Oh, so it is." Arthur doesn't sound particularly enthused, still distracted by the stall he's being pulled away from.

Not that he could have bought anything anyway. He sighs, thinking of only the few hundred credits they have left. They __really__ need to earn some more again soon. Maybe he should look and see if there are any contests going on near by that they can enter?

But that'll have to wait, since Alfred is currently set on earning his next gym badge.

Alfred tugs the blonde happily through the door, into a very peaceful reception. The small room is a comfortable temperature, nice and warm compared to the cold outside, and decorated in soft colours that all blend together with gentle, lulling music playing in the background.

He thinks he get's the sleep clinic part now, this place looks like it was designed to make you want to fall asleep the second you step inside.

Still, a gym's a gym. So he bounds up to the receptionist, and says in a voice that is clearly too loud for their current setting, "I'm here to challenge the gym!"

Behind the desk, a man with brown hair longer on one side than the other blinks at the pair, before nodding.

"Sure, do you know the way?"

"Uh..."

"Hmm, I'll take that as a no." He stands and waves at the pair to follow him as he walks through a door out to the right.

Quickly tailing after him, the pair soon find themselves outside again as the other leads them off down the beach away from the resort.

"Um, were are we going exactly?" Al asks when all he can see is sand and waves as they get further away from the resort.

"To the gym," The man answers plainly, "It was built away from town so the sounds of battle wouldn't disrupt the peace. It's not far, just up here." He explains, pointing out to the distance.

Squinting, Al can just about make out something on the shore line.

The closer they get, the clearer it becomes. A small wooden shack with a painted on sign reading:

 ** **Property of Dream Dew Gym****

Sits at the very edge of the sea, tide marks marring the lower half where the sea has repeatedly swallowed it.

Pulling a set of keys out, the man unlocks the small padlock on the door and holds it open for them.

Curious, they peer inside.

Scattered about in a seemingly haphazard manner is gear that Alfred's never seen before, Arthur, however, blinks at it, then moves in to pick some of it up.

"This is Pokemon ride gear, isn't it?"

"That's correct." The man nods as he watches Arthur look over the kit of harnesses and saddles, "To get to the gym, you'll need to ride out to it." The man continues, turning and letting two Pokémon out.

"Shar..." They cry happily as they swim about in the sea.

"These Sharpedo will take you. I'll get them set up, you two grab some ride gear that fits." The man says, waving the pair over to the back of the shack, as he goes about collecting the kit he needs.

Alfred watches as the man goes about putting the ride gear onto the two Pokémon while Arthur picks through the assortment of helmets, shorts, life jackets and shoes, tossing a set of each at Al when he finds ones that he thinks will fit. In the far corner of the shack is a makeshift changing room with a curtain. So, while Arthur looks for some for himself, Al goes of to change, stuffing his normal clothes down into his bag.

He feels a little ridiculous, wearing a bulky green and red helmet that encases his head, a green and black life jacket that only covers his chest and doesn't close over completely, black and yellow shorts that cling to him and yellow and green water proof shoes.

And he must look just as silly as he feels, for as soon as he steps out, Arthur can't hide his chuckle at the sight of him.

"Haha, very funny. Why do we need to wear this again?" He asks, a little annoyed at his friends laughter at his expense.

"Because," Arthur explains as he pulls the curtain over to get changed as well, "It's the law."

"The law is to look as silly as possible?"

"No," he can hear Artie chuckling at him again as he moves about behind the curtain, "that's just a byproduct of the design."

"It's a requirement these days." The man says as he comes back in, finished setting up the Sharpedos, "Ever since the Alolan amendment to the Pokemon and Trainer Health And Safety Act, it's been a requirement by law for both Pokemon and rider to wear these specialised ride gears."

"Alolan? That's that group of islands in the south sea, right?"

"Yes. You see, the first gym leader here was originally from that region, so, they brought over with them some of the traditions of the islands." The man grins as Arthur steps out, dressed just the same and looking equally ridiculous, "And you'll find that the current leader likes to still honour this heritage of the gym."

"Really? How?"

"Oh, you'll see, Now climb on."

Still feeling quite silly, the pair wade out to the shallows and climb onto the saddles on the excitable Sharpedos.

"So, uh, how exactly do you ride one of these anyway?" Al asks, for once not feeling overly confident.

"It's simple, just put your hands on the ridge here, and your feet here, then hold on and lean into the turns, the Sharpedo will do the rest." The man explains as he gently guides Alfred's hands and feet to the correct positions, Arthur watching and doing the same.

"Just try to have fun." He grins at the pair, before clapping his hands.

At the signal, the two water Pokemon dash off out to sea, both trainers holding on tightly at the suddenness of it.

"Whoooaa!"

"A-aaah!"

Alfred quickly gets his bearings, and as the Sharpedos level off at their fast cruising speed, he smiles brightly, starting to enjoy the ride.

"Wooo!" He cheers, feeling the rush of the sea and wind as they charge.

But beside him, Arthur looks less confident, holding on tightly and looking fearful that he might just fall off.

"Come on Artie, relax!"

The other doesn't say anything though, too focused on holding on as they bounce over the waves.

Leaning to the side, Al steers his Pokemon over to be closer to his friend. He's able to get close enough to put his hand on the blondes shoulder.

"Dude, __relax.__ Your not gonna fall."

"Hmm, that's easy for you to say." Arthur grumbles, looking at Alfred out the corner of his eye.

"Huh, guess we finally found something your not good at." Al shrugs teasingly.

"Shove off, I never said I was perfect."

"I know." Al laughs, grinning at the others annoyance.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

It doesn't take them long to arrive, and by sunset they spot a structure on the horizon. A large stone archway sits out in the middle of the sea, the words ****Dream Dew Town Gym**** carved into the stone. Up the sides of the arch, reliefs of Pokemon decorate every inch of the structure.

Past the archway, a ring of stone in a crescent moon shape sits just above sea level, the waves lapping over the lower parts, with smaller platforms dotted about within. On either side, a larger, metal platform —one painted red, the other green— stands opposite each other, and past all that is a raised stand for spectators.

Alfred's mouth drops open at the sight, never having seen a gym like this before.

The Sharpedo come to a gradual stop by the ring of rock, and Al looks around, trying to take it all in.

"Mh? Ah, I was right, you __are__ a challenger." A lazy sounding voice floats down to them from the green platform.

"Huh?"

Looking up, they see a brown haired man leaning lazily over the railing, looking down at the pair.

"Ah! It's you!" Al cries, pointing up at the man upon recognising him.

It's the man from town, the one who questioned him about his dream on front of the statue.

"Indeed, it is I." The man sounds bored, but there is a taunting glint to his eyes.

"You know him?" Arthur asks, a bit lost.

"Yeah, I met him earlier, but he never said he was the gym leader."

"You never asked." He shrugs at Alfred's complaint.

"Yeah? Well, I'm asking now!"

The man grins, spreading his hands out, elbows still on the railing, "You are correct. My name is Heracles, and I am the leader of the Dream Dew Town Gym, formerly the Dream Waters gym."

"Formerly?" Arthur asks, sounding curious.

"Yes," The man nods, yawning as he continues to watch the pair bob about on the Sharpedo, "this used to be a Water type gym that belonged to the seaside resort of the same name, hence the location." He waves an arm out, gesturing to the sea surrounding them, "But that was under it's previous leadership. As I am now the owner, I have rebranded and remodel the gym to more suit it's __new__ typing."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

The man straightens, the low light of the sunset behind him putting him in silhouette.

"To honour the guardian of my town, Darkrai, this is now a Dark type gym. Tell me, are you prepared to challenge my gym?"

"I am!" Alfred shouts up to the man, ready and raring to go.

"Good. Then I, Heracles Karpusi, leader of the Dream Dew Gym, accept your challenge. Sharpedo, bring them round."

As Heracles moves to the centre of his platform, the Sharpedo swim leisurely around, Al's dropping him off at the steps to the red platform while the other takes Arthur around to the spectator stand.

"Tell me," Heracles asks once Alfred reaches the top of his platform, "What is your name? And how many badges do you have so far?"

"Alfred F. Jones, and I have two."

"Hmm, in that case, I'll use these Pokémon." He mumbles tiredly as he picks out his partners.

"Wait!" Arthur calls suddenly, "Don't you need an official referee before you can start?"

"Oh, Yeah." In all the excitement, Alfred had kind of forgot, not even noticing there wasn't anyone to ref.

"Yes, we do. And he's already here."

Heracles smiles at the pairs confusion as the man who gave them the sharpedos, rises up out of the water on a platform that wasn't there a second ago.

"Iakovos, everything ready?"

"Yup, were all good to go."

"Good. Let me explain," Heracles continues before the trainers can ask, "As said, this used to be a Water type gym, so, it has a few... modifications that make it easier for battle to take place both above and under the waves. So I suppose you could call this a kind of hybrid gym, since I decided to keep all the modifications. Which includes, as you can see, a referee box that can go anywhere the Pokémon may go, above or below. Incidentally, these stand can also go below, should we choose to." He finishes, yawning again.

"Cool!" Alfred beams at hearing all this detail, never imagining a gym could be like this.

"By official guidelines, this will be a three on three Pokemon battle with no time limit. The battle will be over once both a trainers' Pokemon are no longer able to continue." Iakovos calls out. "Now, are you ready?"

"Bring it!"

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** Back again! So now the boys have found the gym and it's leader is, as you probably guessed, Greece. And, since he doesn't have an official name, I should say that Iakovos is Cyprus.

Okay, hands up who guessed the gym would be a dark type? I wouldn't blame you if you didn't, since out of all the games there isn't a single dark type gym. Why? I don't know, there's been a few elite four, but it's the only type not to get a dedicated gym. Odd isn't it?

Dark type is my fav, but that's not really the reason why I gave it to Greece.

Also, if anyone hasn't seen the Alola ride gear, look it up, you'll know what I mean.

What's next for our heroes? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time stay awesome!


	35. The third gym

Heracles, looking as tired as ever, casually tosses a ball up, releasing his first Pokemon just as the sun dips below the horizon.

"Liiiiieee!"

The purple furred cat purrs happily as it stretches out it's forelegs from it's place on the ring of rock.

"That's a Liepard, right?" Al asks curiously as he fishes out his Pokédex.

He's seen pictures of the Pokemon before, but this is the first time seeing one in person.

" _ _Liepard, the cruel Pokemon. Their beautiful form comes from the muscles they have developed. Stealthily, it sneaks up on its target, striking from behind before its victim has a chance to react.__ " Al frowns slightly as he reads the entry.

"Cruel Pokemon? That doesn't sound good."

"Is it, though?" Heracles suddenly asks, giving Alfred a steady look as he watches the young trainer read off the dex entry.

"Huh?"

The brunette man smiles tiredly at Al's clear confusion, "Come. Perhaps you shall learn better through battle."

"Hmm, Fine then. In that case, Freedom, it's time to shine!"

Choosing to not get bogged down with all of Heracles' talk, Al happily moves to get this battle started, sending out his excitable bird perched on his head.

As Rufflet takes flight, Al notices Arthur leaning forward to watch, nodding slightly in approval.

Sure, Alfred may still only really be at the beginning of his journey, but he likes to think he's learnt a lot in the short time he's been traveling with Arthur. And he intends to show this guy everything he's got, and prove he's not just any old trainer like he says he is.

It starts right here, with this, his first Pokemon.

He's learnt now more than ever, from his training with Arthur and his battles against Yao and Katyusha and all the others he's ran into along the way, that the first Pokemon you send out is crucial in deciding victory. Like Arthur's said to him one time, " _ _The battle can be won or lost before it even starts, it all depends on that first choice, your first partner to go out.__ "

Al can't help but smile as he watches Ruffy flying above the field.

"Begin!" Iakovos calls.

At the call, Al makes sure to be the first one to act.

"Ruffy, Fury Attack!"

"Ruuu!"

As soon as the last syllable is out of his mouth, Rufflet is on the move, quickly diving down to strike the Liepard standing on the rocks.

' _ _It's perfect,__ ' Al thinks to himself as he watches his Pokemon go, ' _ _With so little land to stand on here, that Liepard doesn't have anywhere to run. While Ruffy has the advantage in the air, he can dodge and attack without being restricted by this battlefield.__ '

Or so he thinks.

"Liepard, Fake Out." Heracles call's with a yawn.

"Liiiee!"

As Rufflet dives down, the Liepard moves with tremendous speed, leaping from the ring of rock and up to be directly in front of the bird Pokemon, twisting mid-air and kicking Rufflet out of the air with it's hind legs, then landing on one of the small rock platforms, all in a matter of seconds. Rufflet, flinching from the suddenness of the attack, is unable to right itself in time and falls down into the sea.

"Ah! Ruffy!" Al shouts as his Pokemon goes under.

But, much to Al's relief, the water from the splash of entry has barely all fallen down, before Rufflet bursts back up into the air, spraying sea water all around in his wake.

"Ha! Alright, Ruffy, get up high and use Leer!"

Heracles watches with a look of disinterest as the bird climbs, yawning again before giving another tired sounding call.

"Liepard, Torment."

Not even bothering to try to dodge the defence lowering Leer, Liepard stomps it's front legs, shouting up at Rufflet as the same time the bird Pokemon fixes it with it's gaze. As Rufflet lowers Liepard's Defence, Liepard is successful in angering Rufflet.

"Not trying to dodge huh? Alright then, Ruffy, Leer again!" Al calls, oblivious to the Torment's effects.

But, much to Al's confusion, Ruffy doesn't obey, remaining high in the air as it angrily shouts back down at the cat Pokemon.

"Let me guess, you have never seen Torment used in battle before?" Heracles asks, watching Alfred as he continues to try to get Rufflet to use Leer again, "It won't work. Torment is a move that enrages the target. Until it calms down again, it won't use the same move twice."

"Wha?"

"Hmm, seems I was right, you still have a lot to learn. I wonder if you've ever seen this move either? Liepard, U-turn."

Whilst Alfred is still trying to understand what just happened, the Liepard swiftly leaps from rock to rock, before jumping up far higher than Al had thought it capable of, and once again manages to land a hit on Rufflet in mid air. But this time, rather than landing back on the rocks, Al watches as it switches out and a new Pokemon comes out onto the field.

"Caarrrr..."

Rufflet too, seems confused by the sudden change as it rights itself in the air, managing not to be knocked into the water this time, and a good thing too.

The Pokemon glares up at Ruffy, swishing it's fins as it floats half submerged in the water.

"Since you seem confused, let me explain. U-turn is a move that let's the user switch out immediately after attacking." Heracles grins lazily at the pair, standing up straighter, "Now meet my second Pokemon, Caravanha."

Alfred remains looking surprised for a moment longer, before he quickly regains his composure.

"So you can switch after attacking?" Now, it's Heracles' turn to look confused as Al doesn't just smile, he positively __beams__ , "Then that just makes things more interesting! Now I'm really getting into this! Ruffy, let's get that fish! Peck!"

"Ruuuff!"

"Caravanha, dodge."

Thrown off by the sudden change in tactics, Rufflet is force to brake just before the surface of the water as the Caravanha dodges by slipping down into the depths, easily disappearing out of sight thanks to the low light of the twilight sky.

"Quick Ruffy, get back up in the air!"

"That won't save you. Caravanha, Aqua jet."

While trying to hurriedly regain altitude, Rufflet is struck from directly below by the quick water type Pokemon, shooting out of the sea like a watery torpedo.

"Damn it!" Alfred cries as Rufflet is once again forced to regain itself in the air, not having landed a single hit this whole battle so far.

But still, he grins, even as the fish Pokemon disappears under the waves once more.

"You still seem happy, I wonder how long that will last. Caravanha, Aqua jet, once more."

This time, Alfred doesn't give a command right away, instead, he waits.

Watching for the exact moment he can see the rise in the water from the Aqua jet just about to surface, before he acts.

"Ruffy, Aerial Ace!"

His plan works, as at the exact moment he gives his call, Caravanha brakes the surface, and Rufflet is both able to dodge and then loop around to strike with the single move, landing their first solid hit of the match.

The Caravanha skims across a few of the rocks before plopping back into the water, and Alfred cheers at the strength of the hit.

"Ruffy, Peck!" He calls, not wasting a second and giving Caravanha a chance to get away.

"Hmm," If Alfred had been looking, he would have seen the spark of a calculating look in Heracles' eyes as Rufflet chases after his prone Pokémon, "Caravanha, Bounce!"

Al blinks as the Water and Dark type Pokemon shoot out of the sea, rising high into the air to be above Rufflet.

"Ruffy, Fury Attack!"

"Bite!"

The calls come one after another, Rufflet switching to raise it's sharp talons up at the descending fish, while at the same time Caravanha opens it's mouth wide, showing off it's sharp teeth as it drops down on the bird. The Caravanha clamps its jaws down on Rufflet's leg as the bird kicks with the other and hits with it's wings, the pair falling out of the air as a result and landing back into the sea.

"Ruffy!" Al shouts as they both go under.

"Finish it Caravanha, use Ice Fang."

There's a slight light-blue glow beneath the waves, before everything falls quite and the water from the splash settles.

There's a moment of stillness, before Rufflet floats up to the surface, it's leg frozen, fainted.

"Rufflet is unable to continue, Caravanha wins."

Al is left to stare in shock at his poor defeated Pokemon, before he finally recovers enough to recall it to his Pokeball and out of the water.

"Sorry, Ruffy. I messed up." He murmurs, returning his gaze to Heracles, frowning at the gym leader with new found determination.

For all his overly laidback attitude, and talking circles around Alfred's head, the man's no push over. It's clear to him now, Heracles isn't a gym leader for nothing, just like Katyusha and Yao, he's not to be underestimated.

He thought he had the upper hand, using the terrain of the battlefield to his advantage at the start, but he should have known, Heracles would have planned for someone to do that. From what he knows now, and the man's battling style, constantly trying to throw him off by switching things up, Heracles probably has a plan for every type of advantage over him.

' _ _But what about__ disadvantages?' Al ponders.

"Okay, here goes," He whispers, before calling louder, "Jade, time to shine!"

"Laar..."

Out of the corner of his eye, Al catches the surprised look on Arthur's face, a look shared by Heracles.

"Really now?" The man asks, sounding both surprised and exasperated, "Sending out a Rock and Ground type against my __Water__ type? You really aren't anything special after all, are you?" He shakes his head while Alfred grins.

"Nope, guess not."

"Hmm, well, this will end __very__ quickly then."

"Begin!" Iakovos calls to restart the battle.

"Caravanha, Aqua Jet and end this farce."

' _ _Just as I thought...__ '

"Jade, Sandstorm!"

"La? Lar!"

Though clearly curious, Larvitar's trust in Alfred as her trainer is strong enough now that the pair can pull off the blondes crazy plan with ease.

Doing as told, Larvitar quickly summons the raging storm, hiding itself within and dodging the Aqua Jet.

"Now, Rock Slide on the field!"

"Laaarvitar!"

"What are you-? Caravanha, hide under the water!"

Al's smile widens as he sees that now it is __Heracles__ is being thrown off by __his__ odd tactics.

"Now Jade, Screech on Caravanha!"

Through a gap in the storm, Heracles finally is able to see what's happening. Between all the small rock platforms made specifically to limit the movements of land based opponents, Larvitar has created bridges, limiting the areas of open water. But not only that, thanks to the storm, sand is building up in the water, turning it murky, and showing the exact location of Caravanha, by it's movements causing disruptions in the sand.

The Screech hits, greatly lowering Caravanha's Defence, and with nowhere to hide, Heracles is force to attack.

"Hmph, Caravanha, Aqua Jet!"

"Now, Jade! Bite!"

On the sidelines, Arthur gives a faint smile of his own as he watches, having realised Alfred's plan. He may not look it most of the time, but Al is smart. He knew that Heracles would use that move, given Jade's severe type disadvantage to it, but there __is__ a way around it. Aqua Jet is a head on attack, cloaking the user in water, but the water tapers off at the back, and __that's__ where Alfred is aiming for.

With skilled precision, Larvitar twists, just dodging the front of the water attack, and pushes itself up behind the fish Pokemon, biting down on it's tail and swinging it around to slam it into the rock ground, delivering the last bit of damage needed to faint it.

"Caravanha is unable to continue, Larvitar wins."

Heracles is clearly surprised by the outcome, having been certain that Alfred was nothing special and would lose.

"Sweet! Way to go Jade! Ha! How do you like that?!" Al shouts, overjoyed, jumping about on his platform.

He doesn't expect the brunette to smile back at him through the Sandstorm as he recalls his defeated Pokemon.

"It seems I may have underestimated you. But I still have to wonder, was this truly skill, or just luck?"

"Who needs luck when I have partners like these?"

"Hmph," Heracles nods, his smile morphing into a small smirk, "That remains to be seen. The true test of your skill is yet to come."

"Bring it on!"

"Very well, Liepard!"

The cat Pokemon is released once more, and this time, Alfred is ready for it.

"Begin!"

"Jade, Screech!"

"Liepard, Fake Out!"

With the same speed as before, Liepard rushes across the rock bridges and strikes just as Larvitar is opening its mouth, causing it to flinch.

"Now Torment!"

"Jade Bite!"

Even as it grows dark, all signs of tiredness have disappeared from Heracles as he's become more and more worked up, getting into a battle for the first time in a while, and his Pokemon respond in kind, fighting with just as much fire in their moves.

As Liepard stomps about and shouts at Larvitar, Jade leaps forward and bites down, latching onto one of its forelegs.

"Liepard, toss it off and use Snarl!"

"Jade, don't let it throw you!"

The pair struggled as one tries to cling while the other tries to be rid of it, but Liepard comes out on top, using it's speed and body size to spin and twist, building enough force from the momentum to throw Jade off up into the air and then sending dark waves at it as it snarls.

"Quick Jade, Rock Slide!"

"U-turn Liepard!"

Even as she's thrown, Jade is still able to fire off the attack, but with little aim. As a result Liepard is able to use it's speed to easily dodge between the rocks and strike Jade, switching out before any of the rocks can do any harm.

"Meoooow!"

Alfred blinks, staring down at the new Pokemon that just came out, having never seen one quite like that before.

"A Meowth? But aren't they Normal types?" He asks, confused by its odd gray fur and sly look.

"Ah... I take it by that, that you've never seen an Alolan form Meowth before?"

"Alolan form?"

"Yes, a regional variant found only in the Alola region, and not only is it's appearance different, but so is it's typing. __This__ Meowth, is solely a Dark type."

"Oh..."

"Let's see how you handle this."

"Begin!"

"Jade, Screech!"

"Your becoming predictable Alfred. Meowth, Fake Out."

"Wha?"

Alfred didn't expect this Pokemon to also know Fake Out, a move he's quickly beginning to hate, as once again his Pokemon is stopped before she can attack.

"Damn it. Jade, get some distance!" He calls, hoping that by putting some space between them, they might have a better chance.

But Heracles sees right through it, stopping him.

"Heh, you can't run from my Meowth. Feint Attack Meowth."

"Ah!"

Even as Larvitar runs away, Meowth is able to suddenly get up behind it and strike it in the back, knocking it across the ground.

"Now Meowth, U-turn."

"No way!"

Both cat Pokemon, know both the moves that are trapping Alfred, preventing him from acting and reacting effectively to this battle.

"Jade Rock Slide into the ground!"

It's close, but Larvitar is able to form and smash the rock into the ground around herself before Meowth can reach her. This time, it was luck that saved Al, as the rocks destroyed the bridges Larvitar had previously made, causing Meowth to fall into the water.

"Ha! Take that! Now Jade, Screech!"

"Like that will help you. Meowth, Aerial Ace!"

"Ah!"

Even though Larvitar is successful this time, she's hit solidly by the cat launching out of the sea.

"La...Laaaaarrr..."

"Jade!"

"Meooooowth."

Alfred is quickly coming to decide he doesn't like this Pokemon, as it looks rather smug as it stands on the rocks once more while Jade struggles to stand up again. He knows she's close to reaching her limit, so he has to make this next hit count.

As if to add to the pressure, the Sandstorm wares off then.

"Meowth, U-turn."

"Bite Jade!"

Meowth launches forward, striking Jade solidly once more, but Larvitar does manage to sink her teeth in, but only for a moment before she is sent flying into the sea and Meowth switches out.

"Larvitar is unable to continue, Meowth wins."

"Lieeee..." Liepard calls, looking down at the defeated Larvitar, the sea water being the final push to finish her.

"Jade..." Al murmurs as he recalls his fainted Pokemon, "Thanks for all you did. Don't worry, we're still winning this."

Alfred may be down to his last pokemon, but both Liepard and Meowth have taken damage from their previous battles, even with the small rests from the constant switching, it's still not as much of a disadvantage as it first appears.

But even so, Heracles doesn't look worried by this, so Al knows now's not the time to relax, he still has to keep on his toes if he wants to have even a chance of winning here.

"Bouffy, it's up to you. Time to shine!"

"Booouu!"

His trusted first partner huffs loudly as he's sent out, ready and raring to go.

"A bulky Pokemon like that is your last pick? Hardly manoeuvrable here, especially now, since you got rid of all those bridges you made." Heracles remarks, looking curious.

"Think what you want, I'm still going to win this. Right Bouffy?"

"Boooouff!"

"This, I'd like to see."

"Begin!"

"Liepard, Fake Out."

"Now who's being predictable? Let it come!"

Everyone is surprised by Alfred's new tactic of not doing anything, allowing Bouffy to be hit.

"Giving up?"

"Hardly. Bouffy, Stomp!"

On the sidelines, Arthur quickly understands Alfred's plan.

Since Bouffalant has such low manoeuvrability on this field, and Fake Out is bound to flinch is Pokemon anyway, he's letting Heracles come to him, and then he strikes, when the brunette thinks Alfred is being foolish again.

"Clever." He nods, eyes fixed on the battle.

Out on the field, just as Alfred planned, Bouffalant avoided being made to flinch by expecting the attack, pinning the cat Pokemon under it's strong hoof, and is able to counter before Heracles can switch out again.

"Mmh, Liepard, Snarl!"

"Bouffy, Horn Attack!"

For Alfred, Bouffalant pushes through the waves of the Snarl to strike the Liepard, and, much to Al's relief, defeat it.

"Liepard is unable to continue, Bouffalant wins."

"Hmm, it seems I underestimated you once again Alfred." Heracles admits as he recalls his Pokemon, "You planned against my tactics and use them against me, clever. But," He grins, wide and knowing, "no plan will prevent you from falling to my final show of strength." He proclaims loudly, sending Meowth back out.

"It all comes down to this."

"Begin!" Iakovos calls one last time.

"Meowth, Fake Out!"

"Stand strong Bouffy!"

Again, the attack hits, but Heracles now knows of Alfred's plan, and won't fall for it a second time.

"Stomp Bouffy!"

"Go under it and use Aerial Ace!"

It's a testament to both Pokemon's strength, that Meowth is able to push Bouffalant off the ground, and that Bouffalant is able to get right back up from such a hard hit. The attack, however, was merely a means of putting distance between them once more, preventing Bouffalant from using close range attacks, as Meowth now stands on a rock platform on the other side of the field from Bouffy.

"Hmm, your Bouffalant is quite strong isn't it?"

"You bet!"

Heracles continues to surprise Alfred by chuckling and shaking his head, "It has been a while since I've felt this invested in a battle, so I must thank you Alfred. And to show you my appreciation, I will now end this with my __full__ power."

"I wouldn't want you to do anything less!" Al challenges, "But we're still winning this! Bouffy use Rage!"

As Bouffalant makes ready to strike back against any attack, they don't expect what is to come.

"Hmm, very well then."

Alfred watches curiously as Heracles raises his left arm to show a large black band on his wrist that seems to sparkle in the last of the fading light.

"By the power of the moonless night, become the vastness of the endless dark!" Heracles calls as he does what appears to be some sort of weird dance moves.

Alfred almost laughs at the strange movements, the man crossing and uncrossing his arms, ending in a ridiculous stance like he's just gone 'boo!'. The only reason he doesn't, is the strange glow of power coming from Meowth who, for reasons beyond Alfred, also did the silly dance.

"Here it comes Bouffy!"

"Black Hole Eclipse!"

Both Alfred's and Arthur's eye's widen as the Meowth raises its paws, generating a massive black orb above the field, which rapidly grows in size and power, sucking everything around it up into it. The rubble from all the fighting, even the sea itself is altered in shape as the water is pulled up to the sphere, and Alfred has to hold onto the guard rail just to stop himself being pulled in.

But Bouffy, despite it's size and weight, is lifted up, along with the ground beneath it, and sucked in.

"Bouffy!"

Once his Pokemon is pulled in, the Meowth spreads it's paws and the Black Hole implodes, causing air to rush inwards, before the forces reverse and it all blasts back out, with such force it cuts open the sea below.

"Bouffy!" Al cries desperately once more as he spies his Pokemon, dropping down out of the air where the orb had been.

But, despite being severely beaten up, Bouffy still is able to fight, just barely. Falling down, and cloaked in a glow of power, Alfred cheers his Pokemon on.

He had call for Bouffy to use Rage before, but what hit's Meowth is something different, though devastating nonetheless.

Bouffalant collides head long into the tired Meowth, and both parties have to hold their breath as the dust settles to see who the winner is.

...

...

"Meowth is unable to continue, Bouffalant wins. The battle goes to the challenger!" Iakovos announces, quite astonished himself.

Alfred stares at his amazing partner, who is lying on the ground, on top of Meowth, looking incredibly beat up, but other wise fine and happy at winning.

"Bouffy... woah..." He gasps, still reeling from that last set of moves for the victory to sink in.

It's only Heracles clapping that brings him to look around and finally realise, they won.

"Wooooo!"

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Congratulations. I was wrong about you." Heracles admits.

After Alfred's totally cool victory dance, Heracles and Iakovos took the pair back to town, since leaving the two of them to ride back in the dark on their own would be dangerous.

Now, at the Sleep Clinic, the brunette gym leader finally presents Alfred with his much deserved badge.

"You have shown true skill out there today. It is with __pride__ , I bestow upon you the Dream Dew Gym badge, the Eclipse badge. You've earned it."

"Sweet!" Alfred grins down at the black crescent moon shaped badge in his hands.

"Well done Alfred." Arthur congratulates.

"Heh, I must have done will if __your__ praising me." Al teases, laughing when Arthur starts to splutter.

"So, that's your third badge. Where might you be off to now?"

Heracles' question throws Alfred off track and he pauses in his teasing to think about it.

"Uh, I don't really know..." He sheepishly admits, not one to plan that far ahead.

Arthur too, stops to think about their next move.

"Well, the Madora City Gym is closest to here but..."

"What?"

Arthur sighs heavily, "Madora is a large metropolitan area, and __very__ expensive. We don't really have the funds to try going there right now."

"Huh? Why? We've never had to worry about our funds for going anywhere else."

"That may be true," Heracles agrees, "But Madora is different. The city is full of high end businesses and has a strict policy on bringing Pokemon into it. Despite having a gym, trainers must pay a standard fee for entry based upon the number of Pokemon you have.

"Huh?" Al tilts his head, frowning at the bizarre rule, "Why?"

"Why do you think?" Arthur huffs, "Just look at the damage your battle did to the gym. The pompous arses that run the place demand the fee as 'insurance' against any damages our Pokemon may cause. That's not to mention the strict Pokeball Confinement ruling they have, your Pokemon are only allowed out in the designated areas."

"That's nuts! Nowhere else does that!"

"Yeah, try telling that to them."

"Mhmm..."

"Hmph, never mind all that." Arthur shakes his head, as if he's already accepted the strangeness of this Madora City, and changes the subject, "More importantly, that last move of the battle. Heracles, that wouldn't happen to have been a Z-move was it?"

"Ah," The man smiles, "So you've heard of them before?"

"I came across something about them a while back, but this is the first I've ever seen one."

"It's really something isn't it?"

"Yeah, it made Bouffy's Rage all weird too."

"Rage? Al, that wasn't a Rage, that was Revenge." Arthur explains, much to Al's surprise.

"Huh?"

"He's right, that's why it was so powerful against Meowth, Fighting type moves are a weakness of Dark types."

"Wait... so that means..."

"Yes Al. Bouffy learned a new move."

"Awesome!"

"Yes, but this still doesn't answer where we're going to go next."

"I have an idea." Iakovos cuts in.

"Yeah?"

"Why don't you go to Snowfell City?"

"Snowfell? Oh! That's that city up north from the farm!" Alfred beams, liking the idea of heading somewhere close to home. It's been a while since he last saw everyone.

"Why there?" Arthur asks curiously.

"Hmh? You haven't heard?"

"Heard what?"

The man grins at the blonde pair, "There's a tournament being held there in a few days. And not just that, but the Champion will be there, he's going to battle against the winner in an exhibition match."

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** And I return! With Greece and badass cats and a fish, totally original, I know. But man, that was a chapter to write, it took a lot longer than I thought it would.

So who kicked ass more here? Alfred or Heracles, I wanna know what you think.

Side note, I posted a drawing of the boys in the ride gear on my tumblr, and like usual, I've updated Alfred's character sheet, so check that out if you want. Also, if you haven't seen it, I recommend looking up the dark type z-move dance, you won't be disappointed, it's so silly.

What's next for our heroes? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time stay awesome!


	36. Air travel

To say that Alfred was excited by this would be a severe understatement, as he gives an earsplitting shout of sheer joy, launching into a rapid string of how they simply __have__ to go there, like, right this second.

Arthur sighs, "Alfred, are you forgetting how __far__ Snowfell is? There's no way we could walk there in a couple of days."

That stops the ranting, but not for long.

"Well, that's not a problem." Iakovos smiles at the pair, "We have a small seaplane we use to make deliveries up to those mountains."

Heracles joins in, adding, "And it just so happens, we were planning to head on up there tomorrow. Your both free to tag along."

"Seriously?!"

"Yes, of course."

"Woooo!"

"Ah..." Arthur, despite Alfred's loud shouting, is somehow heard clearly as he shift from foot to foot, looking uncomfortable, "I think I'd rather stay here."

That breaks Alfred's joy entirely.

"What? Artie, your not coming?"

"Well...um, I mean, I...ah...it's just..." He stutters out, stopping and starting his way through as he tries to explain.

And Alfred knows something must really be up, since Arthur didn't react at all there to the nickname, a clear sign to Al when something is bothering the blonde.

"But...it wouldn't be any fun without you..." He mumbles, wanting to argue, but not wanting to upset Arthur by forcing him.

Luckily for Alfred, even though he's not very good at reading people, Heracles is.

The older man drops a hand down on Arthur's shoulder, smiling softly at him.

"It'll be fine, I __promise__ you, our plane is very sturdy. There's nothing to fear. Plus, it's a short flight, only a few hours."

It takes a moment more of gentle arguing the safety and benefit of the plane to walking, before Alfred finally realises what's up.

"Wait, Artie, are you scared of flying?"

"...well...um, I...it's..."

"It's quite alright." Heracles continues to reassure.

Looking at Arthur now, acting so meek and unsure, Al kind of feels like an ass for trying to force him. It's just so odd for him to see Arthur like this, he's not sure how to act around him when he gets like this.

So Alfred decides to do the best thing he can, leave the decision up to Arthur and Heracles' reassurance.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Heracles must have finally convinced him, as by the next morning, Arthur is climbing on the plane right along side them, though looking incredibly pale while doing so.

"Hey, it'll be __fine.__ You'll see." Al tries to comfort the blonde as he shuffles his way in to sit.

The seaplane, painted black with a red strip down the sides, is much smaller than Alfred imagined it, only having two passenger seats directly behind the cockpit, which also only seats two, pilot and co-pilot. The roof is quite low too, making it hard to stand up in, so Alfred pulls Rufflet into his lap to sit for the flight.

Behind them, Iakovos is busy putting the last of the cargo onboard and securing everything in place, while Heracles is outside checking that everything is good to go.

"There. Everything is ready here Herc."

"Hmm, Good. The plane's ready to go now too."

Al watches excitedly as the pair climb into the cockpit, going over their checklist. When everything is in order, Heracles turns to look back at the pair.

"Alright boys, we're going to head out now, so quick safety briefing. Fasten your seatbelts, and in the __unlikely__ event of an emergency, there's a lifejacket under your seat, if we land in water, __don't__ inflate it until your __outside__ the plane. If we say brace to you, pull your legs and head in like we showed you, got it?"

Alfred nods readily, while Arthur moves much more stiffly.

"Don't worry so much," Iakovos adds, turning round to look at Arthur, "He may not look it, but Herc is actually a brilliant pilot, you won't find anyone safer to fly with than him."

As reassuring as the pair are trying to be, it's clear that Arthur isn't going to be convinced, so they turn back around and start the plane.

Alfred is practically bouncing in his seat as he watches the propellers spin faster and faster, until they blur and the plane starts to move forward along the beach. He doesn't notice how pale Arthur has become until the light of a pokeball opening makes him look over.

"Pum, Pum?"

Of her own accord, Pumpkin his come out, and the second she appears Arthur grabs her, burying his head in her and holding on to his partner for dear life. As the plane tips up and they finally lift off into the air, Arthur is practically shaking with fear.

He stays like that through the whole ascent, and as much as Al want's to help, he knows there's not much he can really do.

It's when they've levelled off at their cruising altitude that Heracles suggests they look out the window.

"Whoa..."

Al gasps at the sight, the sun shining and reflecting off of the endless blue of the open sea makes it sparkle like a jewel. This is the first time Alfred has ever been flying, he's never seen anything like it before.

It takes a bit of coercion, but finally he manages to get Arthur to lift his head enough to look out too.

"See?" Al grins at the awed yet still fearful look on the blondes face.

"...It's beautiful..." he whispers.

Both Pumpkin and Ruffy join them to look, crying happily at the sight as the plane turns to fly back over land.

For the next two hours they flew back over Dream Dew Town, around the National Park —as it's air space is a no fly zone to protect the bird Pokemon living there— and up over the largest feature of the Eprus region, the Avsel Lake, heading north to the mountains of Snowfell.

The weather turning from clear skies, to cloudy, to snowy the further north they got, encountering some turbulence as they enter into the mountains, making Arthur tighten his hold on Pumpkaboo.

"Hey boys, look out the right side." Iakovos calls back to them.

Squinting through the snow, Al can just about make out some buildings. It takes him a moment longer, as they get closer and the sight becomes clearer, for him to realise what he's looking at.

"Is that Snowfell City?" He asks excitedly, back to bouncing in his seat.

"That's it Alright."

"Artie look, look, look!" He cries, shaking his friend to look out at the city.

Grey stone buildings, both large and small, sit nestled in a seamless blanket of snow, all across different levels of the hills, with paths weaving about between them all.

"You see that big building up on the highest hill? That's where the tournament is being held." Iakovos grins back at them, "It's also this cities gym."

As the plane turns, Al catches a glimpse of a stadium and stalls lining a plaza before they move out of view.

"So they have a gym here too." Now Alfred want's to get down there more than ever.

Sitting back as now all he can see is snowy hills again, Al listens in on Heracles as he speaks into the radio.

"Come in Snowfell, this is Umbra One on final approach, over."

There's a pause of static before a voice answers back, "Copy that Umbra One, you are cleared for landing, over."

Alfred can't help bouncing in his seat as he feels the plane descend more, while Arthur buries his head back in Pumpkin.

Iakovos wasn't kidding when he said Heracles was an amazing pilot, the landing was so smooth Alfred barely even noticed they had touched down until they started to brake.

As soon as the plane has stopped Al is undoing his seatbelt and making for the door, waiting impatiently for Heracles to open it and let them out.

But he regrets his haste as soon as he does, as the freezing cold air blows in and blasts him in the face, making him shiver.

"Buuuuurrrr! It's freezing!" He complains.

His jacket is not nearly enough to protect him, climbing back in to try to get away from the cold. Rufflet too, whines at the sudden cold, fluffing up his feathers and burrowing into Al's chest to try to stay warm.

"We __are__ in the mountains, in the north, in a place called __Snow__ fell, what did you expect?" Arthur sighs tiredly as he pushes past Al to climb out, even as he shivers.

Alfred just blinks as he watches Arthur stand outside, holding Pumpkaboo to himself, now for warmth than comfort, while Heracles just shakes his head as Iakovos climbs back to the cargo and shuffles about. A second later a heavy winter coat is tossed at his head.

"You'll need that if you don't want to freeze out there." He chuckles at the blondes surprised face, climbing back out to hand one to Arthur and Heracles before pulling one on himself.

The coats are, blessedly, much warmer than what they are currently wearing, and the pair hurriedly pull them —and the gloves they find in the pockets— on, closing them up with their Pokemon inside.

Now more protected from the cold, they trudged after the gym leader into the only building in sight, the small airport.

"Hey Herc!" A man with spiky blonde hair calls loudly as he charges to greet them as soon as they walk in.

"Hello Mathias." Heracles sighs as he's caught in a crushing hug.

"Don't be a pest." Another blonde sighs as he appears behind them, looking disinterested as he smacks the loud man on the head.

"Lukas! Still being dragged around by Mat?" Iakovos laughs as he carries in one of the boxes from the plane.

"Someone has to stop him causing an avalanche everywhere he goes." The man sighs, holding the loud one back by his coat hood to stop him from grabbing Iakovos too.

"Hmm, " Heracles hums in agreement, turning to gesture to Alfred and Arthur, "Anyway, we brought you some more guests for the tournament. Alfred, Arthur, meet Mathias Køhler and Lukas Bondevik."

"Ohh, more contenders?" Mathias whistles, coming to look over the pair, eyes widening when they land on Arthur.

Heracles just shakes his head, looking to Lukas, "Can I leave these two with you?"

"Sure." He agrees.

Still looking just as disinterested as he did walking in, Lukas takes the box from Iakovos as Mathias opens his mouth to speak, and pushes it into his chest and let's go, forcing his friend to take it before he can say anything.

"Help unload." He orders before walking away, leaving Alfred and Arthur to trail after him.

Once they're back outside, Lukas leads them to a car, not saying a word as he gets in, waiting for the pair to join him before driving off down the snowy road.

He's silent for some time before he finally says, "Since your friends with Heracles you can stay with us. The Pokemon centers are all full anyway." Before falling back into silence.

Alfred's not sure what to say, other than a mumbled thanks, remaining quiet as he feels incredibly awkward with this man. But he's more interested in why Arthur is also being so quiet.

At first he thought it was because they had just got off the plane, but now that he's looking, he notices that Arthur hasn't once looked that Lukas, keeping his head down and saying nothing.

Twenty minutes later of the most awkward car ride Alfred has ever been on, and they arrive at a large villa at the outskirts of the city, perched on the edge of a cliff.

"Whoa..." Alfred is certainly impressed by the five story building, stopping dead in the snow to gawk at it, before hurrying after Arthur and Lukas.

"Guest rooms are on the east wing of the third floor." Lukas tells them before disappearing off somewhere in the house, leaving the pair to find their way around.

Since they've been left to there own devices, Arthur makes the suggestion that they split up and explore the house, which Alfred happily agrees too.

Not a second later Arthur disappears, leaving Alfred to find his way around on his own.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Arthur sighs as he wanders silently through the house. It doesn't take him long to find his way to the second floor library.

"Hello Lukas," he greets as he pushes the door open, the blonde sitting at the small table waiting for him, "It's been awhile."

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** Ah Arthur, he's not as perfect as he seems. Though, given what stories I know about plane maintenance, I wouldn't blame anyone for being scared to fly. Meanwhile Alfred is every fearless child ever, overly excited to fly for the first time.

And now Denmark and Norway join the ever growing cast.

What's next for our heroes? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time stay awesome!


	37. House of five

Arthur sighs as he studies the blonde teen across the room. To anyone else, Lukas may appear disinterested, sitting plainly as he is, not looking up from the book in his hand, but Arthur knows differently. He learnt long ago to read the subtle changes in his old friends countenance, the minuscule furrow in his brow, the hard look he gives the book, eyes fixed on a single point as he's clearly not actually reading it, his hard grip on it and his stiff back as he sits all tell Arthur one thing.

"Your angry with me."

"I'm not angry __with__ you." The sharp clap of the book shutting heavily contrasts the others calm voice, "I'm angry __at__ you."

Huffing through his nose, Arthur slinks his way over to sit opposite the blonde. He slumps in his seat, murmuring, "I'm sorry."

Finally the other looks over at him, eyes betraying his true emotions.

"I'm not looking for an apology Art, I want to know why?"

"Why... I ran?"

"No," Lukas' brow twitches as he stares the other down, "not why you ran. __That__ I understand. I want to know __why__ you didn't tell me __first__." Arthur blinks at that, not having expected such a question, "I'm your friend, I could have helped you. __We__ could have."

An uncomfortable silence fills the room between them as Lukas waits for Arthur to explain himself.

Sighing heavily, Arthur leans forward to rest his elbows on the table, knitting his hands and resting his head against them.

"I didn't want to get you involved. You know what my fathers like. If he knew you helped me, he'd cause nothing but trouble for all of you. You don't deserve that."

"Don't you think I could have made that decision for myself?"

Surprised, Arthur looks up to see his old friend finally smiling at him, as subtle as it is.

"I would have helped you, you know."

Returning the smile, Arthur nods, "Yeah, I know."

They both chuckle, the tension easily dissolving between them.

That's one thing Arthur has always valued about Lukas, he's perceptive. Little words are needed to express themselves between each other, and for someone as socially awkward as Arthur was for most of his young life (and still is at times), it just made sense that he and Lukas became fast friends.

However, there is still questions that need to be answered between them, and Arthur knows he owes Lukas an explanation.

Both sensing the inevitable, Lukas ventures to ask, "So, does this mean your going back?"

Sighing again, Arthur sits back to look up at the tall decorative ceiling.

"Honestly? I'm not sure. I know I can't keep avoiding it, Dad's going to end up running me down soon or later."

"He knows your back then?"

"Of course he knows." Arthur grumbles, before relaxing again, "And even if he didn't, running won't solve anything, I know that now."

There's a pause, before Lukas poses a new question, "And the kid with you?"

"Who, Al?" Arthur can't help but smile at the mention of Alfred as a kid, "He's a trainer I met a while back, shortly after I came back to Eprus."

"Does he know?" Arthur doesn't need him to clarify.

"No. Honestly I'm surprised, I thought everyone here knew about my family." He chuckles, "It's just my luck, to end up travel partners with the one clueless bone head around."

Lukas hums in thought, "Or perhaps we give the Kirkland name too much credit. After all, how long has it been since one such as yourself was around?"

Frowning in thought for a moment Arthur considers the question, trying to remember what he'd been taught, "Seven generations before me, twelve since the last successful one."

"Well it make sense then, you we're on T.V not to long ago and no one accosted you then did they?"

"You saw that?" Lukas just gives him a faint smile, not needing to answer, "Well... that's not entirely true. I'm sure Berwald told you?"

"I would rather hear it from you."

Huffing annoyedly, Arthur crosses his arms and grumpily stares across at his friend, "I told you, my Dad knows I'm back. Made Berwald give me a message." When Arthur stops Lukas only gives him an expectant look, waiting patiently until the other finally cracks, "He's waiting."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"So he still wants you to do the ceremony then."

"Of course he does. That's all I've ever been to him, ever since he dumped me out in that forest."

There's another round of silence in which Arthur fumes before Lukas switches topics again.

"What about your brothers? It's been a while."

"Like they care." Arthur huffs.

"I think you give them too little credit."

"Hardly."

Lukas hums, pretending to be deep in thought.

"You know, Alistair looked everywhere for you when you first vanished. Charged in here demanding to know were you where. Left his post to Rhys for a whole month searching for you." Lukas smirks at the clear surprise on his friends face, "That doesn't sound like the actions of someone who doesn't care to me."

Lukas sits happily watching his old friend grumble to himself under his breath, most of which is inaudible, but he does catch a few words, mostly curses and his brothers names pop up more than a few times.

It may have been four years since they last saw each other, but their still just the same as ever. It's just like old times, and even though he's not the best at showing it, he knows Arthur can tell he's glad. It's almost as if no time at all has past.

The sound of the door opening draws their attention, both looking over in time to see a curious blonde head with a bird perched on top poke round the door.

"There you are Artie! I wondered where you ran off too!" Alfred cries happily, ignoring the usual complaint at the nickname as he bounds into the room, before halting at seeing Lukas.

"Oh, uh, hi again." He shifts a bit uncomfortably, remembering the awkward car ride.

"Oh, right, I didn't tell you. Alfred, this is an old friend of mine, Lukas."

"Friend? Wait, so you know each other?" Al is clearly confused, given the icy atmosphere from before, as to why now Arthur is calling the other his friend.

"It's a bit of a long story."

"We had somethings to clear up." Lukas adds cryptically.

"Still," Arthur stands, "we should probably introduce you to everyone if you haven't met them already."

Also rising Lukas nods, "That would be best. Berwald is out dealing with preparation for the tournament, but Tino should be about, probably in the kitchen. Mathias should be back soon, and Emil should be around somewhere too, probably in his room."

At the mention of a kitchen, Alfred's stomach grumbles loudly.

"Opps, hehe..." Al laughs awkwardly.

"Kitchen it is then." Arthur smirks, shaking his head at the younger.

"I'll go see where everyone else is."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Tino?"

Just like Lukas said, the pair find the older blonde man in the large kitchen on the ground floor, the smell of something cooking filling the room.

Spinning around holding a bowl of some kind of batter, violet eyes widen and the man gasps.

"Arthur! Oh it's been so long!"

The bowl is carefully tossed aside as the man rushes to embrace the blonde in a crushing hug.

"Ah! It's good to see you too..." Arthur gasps out, remembering how strong Tino is.

"Look at you, you've grown, your taller than me now! When Ber said he'd seen you and told me to turn on the T.V I could hardly believe it." Finally releasing him, Tino smiles brightly up at him, "It's __so good__ to have you back."

Smiling sheepishly, Arthur steps back a bit, gesturing to Alfred.

"Tino, this is Alfred, a friend I'm traveling with. Al, this is Tino, an old friend."

"Don't be so formal Arthur, we're family! It's lovely to meet you Alfred."

"Nice to meet you too!" Alfred gives his signature grin as he sticks out his hand to shake, instantly getting along with the older man.

The pleasantries are interrupted however, by Alfred's stomach once again making it's presence known. But Tino doesn't mind, in fact he's quick to sit the pair down in the dining hall, bringing platters full of all types of food out to them.

"Aww sweet!" Al cheers at the sight, happily setting Rufflet down as he starts digging in.

"Thank you Tino, you didn't have to go to such trouble for us."

"It's no trouble. As they say, the more the merrier."

Almost as if it were timed, at that exact moment the loud thumping of feet rapidly approaching fills the air.

"Hey Art! Ha I was right it, __is__ you!" Mathias shouts as he charges into the room, spying the pair and halting just before running into the table.

"Must you __always__ be so loud?" Lukas' voice follows shortly before he and two others enter the large room.

"Pup, pup!"

Between the legs of the newcomers Alfred catches a flash of white before it disappears under the table, only to jump up into Arthur's lap.

Smiling and laughing Arthur tries to push the attacker away from licking his face.

"Hanatamago, stop it! I'm happy to see you too boy. Quit it!"

Finally getting a good look, Alfred can see it's a snow covered Pokémon unabashedly licking Arthur's face.

"Art, my man, where you been?" Mathias' voice booms as he leans over Arthur's chair to drape his arm over the blondes shoulder.

"Hello Mathias, sorry I didn't say anything earlier." Arthur greets instead, dodging the question.

Thankfully he's saved from further prying for now as Lukas grabs the spiky haired blonde by the collar and drags him to sit on the other side of the table.

As he's dragged away, the tallest of the three gives his greetings, "Arthur."

"Hello again Berwald." The pair nod to each other, needing few words as Berwald takes his place to sit at the end of the table.

The last and youngest of the newcomers looks uncomfortable as he moves to sit at the farthest away seat, a Pokemon perched on his shoulder. But his solitude doesn't last as Lukas takes the seat right next to him.

"Don't be rude, say hello. You __do__ remember Arthur don't you?"

"Shut up I'm not a child." The silver haired teen huffs before begrudgingly turning to look to Arthur, "Hello."

"Hello Emil, it's been a while, hasn't it?" As amicable as Arthur tries to be, he get's no further response out of the moody teen other than a dismissive huff. The Pokemon, however, squawks mimickingly, " _ _Been a while, been a while!__ "

Alfred, predictably amazed by the talking Pokémon, gapes.

Thankfully, before he can launch into questioning, Tino returns at that point with a tray full of cups of hot cocoa for all.

"Alright, drink up everyone, get yourselves all nice and warmed up."

Food and drinks now all served, Tino takes his seat between Arthur and Berwald at the end.

As they all get stuck in, conversation rising up around them (mostly carried by Mathias), Alfred, for once in his life attempting to be subtle, nudges Arthur to quietly ask who everyone is.

"Well, first you know Berwald, he's on the Trainers Guild. This is his home, the Oxenstierna estate."

Al's eyes widen at that, wondering just how rich this guy is.

"Mathias is Berwald's third cousin, and Lukas is Mathias' second cousin. The quiet one is Emil, he's Lukas' half-brother, and the bird on his shoulder is Mr. Puff."

"What about Tino?"

"He's m'wife." Berwald's rumbling voice makes Alfred look up in surprise, while the one in question grows incredibly flustered.

"Ah, please stop telling people that, it's embarrassing!"

The conversation immediately switches to teasing the two, leaving Alfred even more confused.

Taking pity, Arthur leans over to quietly whisper, "As long as I've known them Berwald's called Tino his wife. Tino will always say it's embarrassing, but he never outright denies it." He grins leaning back, "Make of that what you will."

"Pup! Pup!" A chip bark calls out from the floor, feeling left out.

"And who could forget you?" Arthur grins, reaching back to pet the pup. "This is Hanatamago, he's kind of like the family pet and guard dog. Aren't you boy?"

"Pup!"

Curious, Al pulls out his Pokédex to find out more about the two new Pokemon.

First, he points it at the talking bird.

" _ _Chatot, the music note Pokemon. It can learn and speak human words. It mimics the cries of other Pokémon to trick them into thinking it's one of them. This way they won't attack it.__ "

"Huh, so that explains the talking." Impressed, Al turns to look at the other one.

" _ _Lillipup, the puppy Pokemon. It faces strong opponents with great courage.__ _ _The long hair around its face provides an amazing radar that lets it sense subtle changes in its surroundings.__ "

Now that the snow is melted off of it he can see the brown fur that was previously hidden.

Loud laughter draws Alfred's attention back to the table.

"...remember that? You were like a human snowball!" Mathias' boisterous laugh is unhindered by the smack to the head Lukas delivers.

"That was your fault, we wouldn't have even been their if you hadn't wondered off."

Beside him Arthur chuckles, smiling happily at the memory.

"I remember that, we almost got hypothermia, we we're so cold. Tino fed us hot cocoa for twelves hours straight."

"Yeah, you totally mothered them!"

"I was just worried!"

"Mh, cause your a good wife."

"Please stop saying that!"

"Your all so embarrassing..."

"But your enjoying yourself~"

"Shut up."

"Cha! __Embarrassing__ , __Shut up!__ "

Alfred can't help but smile. Arthur may call them all old friends, but looking around, Tino's right. Their family here.

And seeing the bright smile and tears of laughter in his friends eyes, for the first time since setting out in his journey, he feels like he's home.

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** The Nordic five are finally all here together. For the purposes of this story, Sweden and Finland are in their mid to late thirties, because we need __some__ adults around here. Norway is a year younger than Arthur at 19, Denmark is 21 and Iceland is, as always, the baby of the family at 15, so just a bit younger than Al.

Family trees are a very confusing thing, but if anyone can work out Emil's relation to Berwald, then you get a cookie. It's like one of those brain teaser riddle things; The half-brother of his third cousins second cousin is what to Berwald?

And of course I had to include Hanatamago and Mr. Puffin, who's in disguise as a parrot. Shh, don't blow his cover.

What's next for our heroes? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time stay awesome!


	38. Familiar faces

Alfred, for once, woke up early. Another first is that he's also alone.

The Oxenstierna estate is __huge,__ he has no other word for it. And as such, they have a large number of guest rooms, so, for the first time since traveling together, the pair got their own rooms rather than sharing.

It's not like there __isn't__ room for two beds though, as the bedroom he just spent the night in is by far the largest he's ever seen. He got a full queen-sized bed all to himself! With rich alpine wood furnishings, and a floor to ceiling window that leads onto a balcony, overlooking the cliff on which the house sits, it's certainly the snazziest place he's ever been. He's almost afraid to touch anything incase he breaks it, and given how excitable Mathias is, he get's the feeling things get broken a lot around here as it is.

Still, he get's up and stretches, getting ready for the day. Today, their going to explore the city, and more importantly, register for the tournament. And Al won't lie, he really wants to see the competition, to get a feel for things before it all kicks off in just two days time.

Standing in front of the full length mirror, Al grins, putting his game face on. He's got a plan, and he's going to stick to it.

"Enter the tournament, win, meet and beat the champ, then take down the gym."

"Ambitious as always I see."

"GaAHh!"

Al jumps, spinning around to see Arthur smirking at him in the doorway, trying not to laugh.

"Geez, Artie, don't sneak up on a guy like that."

"Don't call me that!" The blonde snaps on reflex, "Come on, Mathias is waiting."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

The people of Snowfell here them long before they are seen. Alfred and Mathias, laughing loud and proud as they make their way through all the twists and turns of the city, Arthur a half step behind them.

Alfred is __beaming__ as they bound out of the bakery, arms full of donuts, cakes, pastries and all kinds of sugary goodness. He may not fully get Lukas, but __Mathias__ , now there's a guy he understands __completely__. Two sentences in after leaving the front door, and he knew he'd just found a new best friend.

Given both blondes wild and excitable nature's, it's no surprise their fun takes them to a near by park with a battlefield just __waiting__ to be used.

"I could __sooo__ take you on!" Al cries, jumping across the field lines, grinning back at his new friend as he stuffs a cake in his mouth.

He's not even bother by the cold any more, too focused on this new challenge.

"Yeah right, I'll whoop your ass!"

"Bring it!"

"Your on!"

Arthur, who is bundled up tight in his winter coat, sighs as he resigns himself to being the tag-a-long and damage control of this new duo. Even so, he doesn't plan to freeze out here with them, but when he tries to leave them to it, they both team up to twist his arm into being their ref.

"Fine!" He huffs, breath puffing out in front of him.

"Your the best Artie!"

"Your a bro Art!"

"Don't call me that!" Who he's snapping at, even Arthur doesn't know, "This'll be a one on one match, no time limit, got it?"

"Sure!"

"Prepare to eat your words little man!" Mathias booms as he moves to stand opposite Al, finishing off his pastry.

"Bouffy time to shine!"

"Let's do this Skråstreg!"

They both throw their pokeballs at the same time, two cries filling the air upon release.

"Bouuufff!"

"Weeeeavile!"

To the side, Arthur blinks in surprise, "You evolved Skråstreg."

"Yup! And he's a million time stronger now!"

Never having seen this Pokemon before, Al is quick to pull his Déx out.

" _ _Weavile the sharp claw Pokemon. They live in cold regions, forming groups of four or five that hunt prey with impressive coordination. It carves patterns in trees with its claws as a signal to others.__ "

Alfred smiles to himself as he reads the entry.

' _ _Dark and Ice type huh? Perfect, now I can try out that move.__ '

A cold blast of air makes Arthur shiver, "That's __it.__ " He grumbles, fishing out one of his pokeballs.

"Lamp?" Lampent asks, looking around worriedly at the new environment.

"Come here."

Alfred and Mathias watch bemused as Arthur hurriedly unzips his jacket to pull Lampent in and close it back up again.

"Aahhh, so __warm.__ " He sighs in relief.

"Cold?" Mathias teases but Arthur pays him no mind.

"The benefits of having a partner with the Flame Body ability. Now, trainers ready? Good then hurry up and start!"

"Bouffy Horn Attack!"

"Dodge and use Hone Claws!"

Charging, Bouffalant runs straight for Weavile, but going by Mathias' smirk, Al should have known it wouldn't be so simple. Pokemon like trainer, Weavile smirks as it effortlessly jumps, using it's hands to guide it as it somersaults over Bouffy to land some distance away behind it. Once down, it turns, claws shining as it glows with power, it's Attack and Accuracy rising.

"Ice Punch, go!"

"Look out Bouffy!"

Bouffalant tries to run, but slips on the snow and is forced to catch it's balance, unable to get away as a result as Weavile is simply too fast, practically skating as it speeds across the snow covered ground.

"Turn your head!" Al hurriedly calls just in time as Bouffy obeys, moving it's head so Weavile's fist slams into Bouffalant's puffy head of hair.

Both trainer and Pokemon blink, surprised to see Bouffy still standing after such a strong hit, a layer of ice freezing the fur at the point of contact.

Grinning proudly at his partner, Alfred calls out, "Now Bouffy, Revenge!"

Swinging it's head down, Bouffy strikes Weavile with it's horn, sending the Pokemon flying across the field.

"Weavile is unable to continue, Bouffalant wins. Finally." Arthur sighs, still hugging Lampent close inside his coat.

"Damn," Mathias gives a low whistle as he recalls his partner, "Your not half bad. Not many can take a straight hit from Skråstreg and stay standing. I'm impressed."

Alfred happily pats his partner a job well done, grinning proudly.

"That's 'cause Bouffy is the best, all my partners are."

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"And this is the Snow Star Stadium!" Mathias grins, proudly holding his hands up to the large building before them.

The stadium is a mix of icy blue's and shining silver, shaped like a massive star from above, giving it it's name. The central open battlefield fills the middle, while five smaller fields sit within each of the five points, and before the main entrance, is the Grand Plaza.

All around the trio, the market is abuzz with activity as stalls call out, and sell to customers as crowds of people bustle about.

"When we're not hosting some kind of event this also doubles as our gym!"

Arthur knows Mathias is using the noise of the crowd as an excuse to be even louder than necessary, but by now he's learnt that there's no stopping him, only Lukas can do that. And that aside, he's more interested in the stadium than anything else.

"Last time I was here, they had only just started to lay the ground work."

"It's cool right?"

"It is impressive. So who runs the gym?"

If it was possible, the blondes grin widens, "It's a secret!"

"Come on, let's go sign up!" Al cries, tugging Arthur by his coat sleeve into the building.

As Mathias wanders of to by drinks, the pair busy themselves with registration.

"The preliminaries are a point based group system. If you make it through them, then your onto the knockout stages. All matches are one on one. You can register up to a team of six Pokémon you intend to use throughout the tournament." The receptionist explains.

"Sounds good to me. I'll be using these guys." Al grins as he hands over his pokeballs, Arthur doing the same beside him.

"And I'll be using these three."

Whilst they're waiting for their Pokemon and data to be recorded, they here a voice call out from the crowd.

"Hey is that Al?"

At hearing what he thinks is someone calling his name, Alfred turns to scan the mass of people.

"It totally is! Al! Artie! Over here!"

Out of the crowd, a recognisable flash of pink catches the pairs eye and instantly they know who it is.

"Feliks! And Toris too!"

Alfred smiles, waving back as he can now clearly see the pair making their way over to them.

"Wow, this is, like, so cool running into you guys here."

"It's good to see you both again." Toris greets once they're close enough.

"Same to you." Arthur nods, quickly turning to take back their cards and Pokemon as the receptionist finishes the registration process.

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

The four wander away as they talk.

"So are you two here for the tournament?"

"Are you guy's competing too?"

You bet! I mean Contests are, like, our true calling. But still!"

"What Feliks means is it's good experience for us. We can learn a lot from battles that we might never have thought about only thinking in terms of Contests."

"Really?"

"Yes," Toris colours slightly, looking away, "actually, I realised that while watching you two battle."

"Yeah," Feliks agrees, not in the least embarrassed to admit such things, "That whole using Inferno to cancel out Blizzard and protect your partner all at once? Amazing~ My head was totally buzzing with ideas from it!"

Toris nods along with the flamboyant blonde, "I don't know if you realised it, but there was a sort of..." he pauses, trying to think of the right word, "finesse to it."

"Of course, that is why I battle too."

The four jump —with varying degrees of yelps of surprise— at the sudden voice, turning to see Ivan appearing out of the crowd, Natalia right behind him.

"Ivan," Arthur sighs, seeing Feliks hide behind Toris out of the corner of his eye, "you've really got to stop sneaking up on people."

"Ah, but it's so fun seeing all of you jump like that, very synchronised. You'd earn high points." He grins down at the group.

"Ivan! You here to compete?" Al asks, quickly recovering.

"Why else?"

"Natalia too?"

"I go where brother goes." She gives Alfred and Arthur a sharp look, sizing them up, "You may have gotten in brothers way before, but this time I'll be the one to take you down for him." She promises seriously.

Loving the buzz of growing challenge Alfred happily declares, "Bring it on!"

"Whoa, who's all this?" Mathias asks as he returns with three cups-to-go, "I ain't buying all of you drinks too, I'm not made of money." He jokes as he passes Al and Arthur theirs, "Waaait," he squints at the four new people, "don't I know you from somewhere?"

"Mathias, this is Feliks," Arthur introduces, indicating the cowering teen.

"...Hey..." He mumbles, his shy side taking over.

"Toris,"

"Hello."

"Ivan, and his sister Natalia."

"Hello!"

"...Hello."

"They're friends. You might recognise them from the Contest and tournament than you saw Al and me take part in."

"Oh __yeeeeah__!" The blonde snaps his fingers in realisation, "You guys rocked! Aww this year is gonna be so __sweet__ with all you guys competing!"

Alfred bounding with excitement at the idea, throws his arms up as he cries, "This is gonna be so **__**awesome!**__** "

From somewhere inside the crowd, a voice shouts back, "But not as **__**awesome**__** as me!"

Both Arthur and Al share a look, recognising the loud and proud voice.

Spinning around to look in the direction the call came from, they scan the crowd. But there's hundreds of people here, making it difficult to find anyone, even someone as distinctive as __him__.

"Looking for something?" Ivan asks, using his height to see over most of the masses as he follows the pairs line of sight.

"Yeah, it sounded like..." Al starts to explain, but trails off as through a gap in the crowd Al finally spots him. "Gil!" He shouts, waving and running after the albino who's back is turned to them, Arthur following at a fast walk.

Hearing the familiar call, the red eyed man turns, grinning wide when he sees the two blondes heading his way. But instead of walking up to meet them, he turns back around to get the attention of someone standing behind him.

Alfred's eyes widen and his mouth drops open, stopping dead in his tracks as Gil steps aside and reveals who it is.

" ** **MATTIE!**** "

"Al-aah!"

Alfred unreservedly screeches as he charges arms wide into his brother. Matthew, not expecting the tackle at __all__ , is easily knocked off his feet as the pair tumble to the ground.

"Oh. My. Arceus! Mattieeee!" Alfred continues to squeal, bear hugging his twin in the snow, much to the confusion of the crowd.

"Kesesesese!" Above them, Gilbert cackles at the sight, his Torchic chirping away on his head, whilst Arthur raises an eyebrow at them as the rest of the group make their way over.

"Ooh, that looks like fun." Ivan grins, chuckling at the pair.

"It's really not." Matt gasps out, trying and failing to free himself.

Natalia, however, takes that as an invitation to latch onto Ivan's waist, "I'll hug you brother."

Mathias takes one look at the twins as he makes his way over, grins, shouts, "Dog pile!" and promptly jumps on top of them.

Gilbert, not one to miss out on the fun, quickly joins, throwing himself on top as his Pokemon jumps off his head, out of the way. The fun is clearly too good to miss for even Feliks to feel shy as he too, jumps in, pulling a helpless Toris down with him. Ivan, as either an attempted to free himself from his sister, or simply for the fun of it, grins happily as he throws himself on top, electing groans from below as Natalia lands with him. Arthur tries to stay out of it, but hands, he's not sure who's, find their way out to grab and pull him down.

Now that everyone is down, and a sizeable space has formed around them as the crowd gives them a confused but wide berth of space, Gilbird hops up their bodies to be on top, chirping happily as it settles it's self.

"Cuuuub..." And out from under and between all the bodies, Matthew's Cubchoo —which he'd been holding when Al tackled him— sighs in relief as it finally frees itself.

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** Reunions all around!

The Snow Star Tournament is about to begin, and with all these competitors, it's anyone's game! So place your bets people on who will win!

What's next for our heroes? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time stay awesome!


	39. Storms

The sound of raucous laughter pours out of the small cafe just down the road from the stadiums plaza. Such loud noise would normally be frowned upon by the quaint hillside establishment, but given that the group the noise is emanating from is proving to be the cafe's most lucrative customers yet, they're making the exception.

After the 'dog pile' incident, the group had attracted quite a bit of attention, so it was decided to move things to a more quieter location.

In between ordering masses and masses of food, Alfred gushing at a mile a minute about __how good__ it is to see his brother again, and his surprise at him coming to enter the tournament — and Gilbert acting offended that he's not being gushed over too— they had somehow managed to introduce themselves to each other.

Along the way their conversation hopped about topics more than a Magikarp using Splash. From Alfred's family, to his brother, to Feliks and Toris' last Contest —in which Feliks proudly showed off his new shiny black and gold striped ribbon— to Ivan and his travels, to Katyusha and her birthday, to Al and Arthur's travels, to how they all came to be here.

And through it all, Arthur slowly began to realise that they had created something truly terrifying.

Alfred. Mathias. Gilbert.

He had thought that just Al and Mathias together was bad enough. But now, with the addition of Gilbert, it was like the three members of a trio he never knew existed had finally reunited.

He can feel the eyes of the staff on them as another round of booming laughter rises up from Mathias and Gilbert, both finding common ground in swapping stories of their misadventures.

"So," Ivan interrupts, sipping from his tea, "Gilbert, you work as a part-time slash full-time farm hand on Alfred's family farm?"

"Yup, I've known him since he was this high!" The albino grins, holding his hand just below the table.

"Ah," Ivan nods, setting his cup down to lean forward, resting his elbows on the table, "That explains that, but how do you know Arthur? He does not seem like the type to have many friends."

"And what's __that__ supposed to mean?!" Arthur snaps.

The pair ignore him as Gil grins, "Easy, I know his Dad, well, really my father does, but I tagged along a few times to the meetings."

"His father?"

"Yup!" Gilbert continues to grin, but when Ivan only looks lost, Mathias takes that as his opportunity to jump in.

"You know, Cha-" He starts, but is cut off by Arthur slapping a hand over his mouth.

"It's not important!" He snaps quickly, effectively silencing the table and gaining odd looks from everyone.

"Waa' 'uu' 'eeen' i' 'oot ii'oo'aan'?" The blonde garbles behind the hand.

Gil, however, smirks, "Ohhh, I get it. Not important. __Riiiiight__."

"Shut. It." Arthur bites out, glaring the pale man down.

Across the table, Feliks is bouncing in his seat like he really wants to ask something, but is only being held back by Toris subtly shaking his head.

Gilbert shrugs, sitting back as Arthur raises his free hand, clearly calling out in the tense silence, "Waiter, bill please!"

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Alfred, for lack of a better word, is perplexed. Every time someone brings up Arthur's family, he shuts it down. He knows the blondes family isn't perfect, he understands that much, but he doesn't get why Artie is being so secretive.

When they left the cafe, Arthur had dragged Mathias and Gilbert down a side-alley, and when they came back, the other two acted as if nothing had happened, while Arthur had just vanished. All they would say was he went to blow of steam, and their little group split ways after that; Ivan and his sister to train, Toris and Feliks to explore —or rather Toris dragging Feliks away, the blonde coordinator looking desperate to get in on some sort of gossip— and Gil and Mathias to do who knows what, leaving Al with just Mattie.

"So, how's it been? Traveling I mean." His twin starts off, hugging Kuma close to his chest.

"It's been... good." He answers distractedly.

He's so caught up in his thoughts that he doesn't notice his brother stop walking, until a snowball strikes the back of his neck.

"Gah! That's __coooold!__ " He shivers, spinning around to face his twin as the icy ball melts and falls down the back of his coat, only for another ball to smack him in the face.

"Ruuff!" Rufflet chirps, flying off of Al's head to get away from the onslaught as both Matthew and Cubchoo giggle.

"What the __heck__ Mat _ _tieee!__ " The teen screeches as he dodges another ball, "Oh. That. Is. __It!__ " He shouts, scooping up a handful of snow and tossing it back at his twin as he looks for cover.

The pair soon find themselves hiding behind opposite snow banks, armed with enough snow to take down an army. They laugh loud and carefree as they try to one up each other, Matthew enlisting the aid of Kuma to make snowballs faster, while Al uses Ruffy as a bomber to drop large melon sized balls over his twin's defences.

They don't even care when the sky darkens and it starts to snow, cheeks turning red, and hair white with the falling flakes.

It's only when the wind suddenly picks up, and it gets harder to see across to each other, that they realise they've been caught in a blizzard.

"Crap, Mattie!" Game abandoned, Al scrambles over his defensive banking to his twin.

"Al, what are we going to do?"

For a moment Alfred is confused, until he realises they can't see the way back to town. If they wander off, they could end up seriously lost, but if they stay they'll surely freeze.

"We need to find shelter." He has to raise his voice just to be heard.

"Where?" Matthew worriedly gestures to the surrounding whiteout.

"Anywhere!"

Not waiting a moment longer, Al grabs Mattie's hand so they don't get separated, then picks a direction and starts walking, hoping they'll find some cover soon.

As they walk, Al tries to recall Rufflet to his pokeball, but when he refuses, pulls him into his coat instead, this way, they can share their body heat.

But no matter how far they walk, the blizzard doesn't let up, seeming to only get stronger as it quickly becomes impossible to see two feet in front of them, and the deep snow harder to move through, until finally, Matt trips and falls, accidentally pulling Al down with him.

The only good thing about all this is that as an Ice type, Kuma is unbothered by the cold, though is still clearly worried about his trainer.

"A-Al this isn't w-working." Matt shivers heavily as they climb back to their feet.

"I know, but w-we have t-to keep moving or we'll f-freeze."

They continue on, with no sign of shelter to be found, but just when things seem to be hopeless, Al here's a familiar cackling in the wind.

"W-what was t-that?"

"What w-was what?" Matt looks worriedly at his brother, fearing that Al is losing it.

But the sound comes again as the wind changes direction, and this time, Al knows __exactly__ who he's hearing.

"C-Casp-per! Over h-here!" He shouts into the wind, hoping to be heard, "Casper!"

An agonising minute of silence follows in which all the pair can here is the wind, then, much to Al's relief, Casper swoops down from out of nowhere.

"Missss."

"Man, am I g-glad to s-see you."

Despite the freezing cold, Matthew is still able to find the energy to appear surprised by his brother's words.

"N-never thought I-I'd see the d-day you'd b-be happy to s-see a g-ghost."

"M-me neither."

"Miss, missss!"

Casper cries, sounding urgent as he looks the pair over, circling Al's head, before floating in front of his face and moving off.

Taking the hint, Al grabs Matt's hand once more and together they follow the Ghost Pokemon's lead.

Misdreavus seems unbothered by the storm as he leads the way, and Al wonders if this is another of those benefits of Ghost types that Arthur keeps going on about, but soon forgets about it as he sees the dark outline of a cave appearing through the blizzard.

"S-shelter!"

"Oh thank A-Arceus." Matt sighs in relief as they hurry on in to the large cave.

"Missss!" Casper cries loudly, voice echoing off the stone walls as soon as they walk in.

"There you are! Where did yo-," Arthur sighs, hurriedly running to the entrance, before stopping in his tracks at seeing Al and Matt, "Alfred? What? Were you two, __out__ in __that?__ " He gapes at the pair.

"Heh, w-we kinda got c-caught in it, y-yeah."

Seeing the state the pair are in, Arthur wastes no time in grabbing their arms and pulling them deeper into the cave. In a cavern deep inside and out of the reach of the wind, a small campfire has been lit, and Arthur pushes the pair to sit as close to it as possible without setting themselves on fire.

"Sit here, don't move." He orders, before grabbing something from his bag and heading back out.

Al want's to follow, but he's so cold and the fire is __so warm,__ he doesn't think he could move even if he tried. He wonders what Arthur is up to as he snuggles up to Mattie for more heat, but they don't have to wait long, as soon Arthur comes back with a pot full of water, and sets it over the fire.

"What were you two __doing__ out there? You could have frozen to death!"

Despite the harshness of the tone, Al knows Artie is just worried, so he smiles back at him, "S-snowball fight."

Arthur gives them an incredulous look, making Matthew feel the need to quickly clarify, "We d-didn't know a b-blizzard was c-coming."

Arthur huffs, watching the water start to simmer.

"Well, your lucky Casper ran out to find you, who knows what might have happened if he didn't." He frowns at Al, before turning to smile at his Pokemon, "So __that's__ why you just ran off like that? And here I thought you were just trying to play hide and seek again."

"Misss, Miss!" The Pokemon laughs, looping in the air to land on Arthur's head.

Alfred grins at the playful Pokemon, thankful for it saving them, and watches as Arthur pulls the pot of now boiling water off the fire and picks up a familiar box.

"T-tea?" He grimaces.

"Yes, __tea,__ it'll warm you up." Pulling out two mugs, Arthur hands them each a cup, "Now __drink it__." His tone leaves no room for argument and Matthew happily sips away.

"Urgh, __f-fine.__ "

Seeing them both still shivering, Arthur frowns and unzips his coat to reveal Lampent.

"Torch, help keep them warm, I'll be fine. They need your heat now."

A little reluctantly, Lampent floats over, moving to Al first since he knows him.

But Al shakes his head.

"Help M-Mattie first, I've g-got Ruffy to keep me warm."

"Laa?" Torch sounds unsure as he looks back to Arthur, ready to bolt back over, but nods, and slips into Matthew's coat.

The three sit by the fire, drinking tea, until the storm ends. As they sit, Matthew get's to know Arthur better, and he finally understands why Al has spent so long traveling with him. Arthur is much more experienced and sensible than his twin, plus his skill with Ghost type Pokemon really does make him the best one to help Al out, seeing how at ease his twin is now with Ghost Pokemon is testament to that.

He'll admit, at first he thought the man seemed standoffish and cold, but now he sees Arthur is actually a very caring person, not that he'd ever admit it.

He smiles to himself, of all the people Al could have found to travel with, he's glad it was Arthur.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

After the storm, they returned to here news that made Alfred so happy, he was grinning from ear to ear the rest of the night. Berwald and Tino had invited the others all to stay at the estate, so now, they all eat, sleep and train under one roof.

At one point Tino had smiled and commented, "This is the liveliest this house has been in a long time!" As Gil and Mathias challenged each other to progressively crazier dares, one after another.

And for the next two days, they all worked hard, training in their own way for the up coming tournament.

And then, the day of the Snow Star Tournament arrived.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"EeeeeHhhh!" Al squeaked as he stood in the waiting area, hardly able to move without bumping into someone, the place is so packed.

"I know, right?" Feliks grins, bouncing in excitement.

"Honestly Alfred, your acting like a love struck fanboy." Arthur rolls his eyes at the uncontrollable blonde, who is practically bouncing off the walls with excitement.

"But Artieeee!" He squeals, receiving a smack to the head for the nickname, not that Al cares, "The Champion is __here!__ And we get to see him any minute!"

"Oh for the love of-" Arthur sighs, turning to Matthew helplessly, "Has he __always__ been like this?"

"Yuuup."

Matthew grins as his twin lets out another high pitched squeal of glee and Arthur drops his head into his hands at the sound.

"Kesesesese! This place is a real riot!" Gil cackles loudly as he makes his way through the cramped crowd to the three.

"Hmm, the atmosphere is good, very energetic." Ivan adds, as he too joins them, Natalia never far behind.

"I don't think I've ever been somewhere as charged as this." Toris sighs as he squeezes his way through to them, handing Feliks a drink.

"Ah, wait until you enter a master class Contest, __then,__ you will know what 'charged' is." Ivan grins ominously, making the pair of coordinators shrink back a little.

In another corner of the room, Mathias and Tino are grinning, just waiting to step out and let the ceremony begin, Lukas seems uninterested, but Arthur can tell even from this distance that his old friend is looking forward to it, while Emil looks like he'd rather be anywhere else right now.

"Alright people, here we go!" One of the aids shouts, and slowly they start to shuffle out the door, down the tunnel onto the main field.

The stadium is packed as the crowd roars with cheers at their arrival, roughly two hundred or so competitors walking out.

Alfred thinks his face might split apart, he's grinning so much. This is nothing like the small tournament from the Poké Week event back in Kansa, this is a proper, full on tournament, and he's loving it.

Al moves with the group, making their way to the centre of the field and stands tall and proud, with Artie to his left and Mattie to his right, the others ending up spread about in little clusters.

Looking up, they can see a box stage overlooking the battlefield. Standing on it, is a man and a woman that looks to be the commentators for the tournament, the judges —including Berwald—and beside them, the Champion. And behind them, a massive screen rises up, currently displaying a icy blue screen saver with large animated snow flakes falling and swirling across it.

"Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen!" The man shouts into a microphone, stepping forward and waving an arm out to the gathered trainers, "We have a wonderful gathering of participants for this year's tournament! Won't you all give them a warm welcome!" More cheers rise up in response, and the man switches over to the woman, "That's right, this is already looking like it's going to be one heck of a contest out here! And we'll be your hosts, Davie and Iris! Now, let me introduce to you, our amazing judges for this event! Mrs. Wick, head of the Pokemon Tournament Association and Snowfell's very own, Nurse Joy and Mr. Oxenstierna of the Trainers Guild!"

More cheering follows at the names as Iris hands back over the Davie, "And of course, the man you've all come here to see, our Champion, Feliciano Vargas!" The crowd gives it's most deafening roar yet, and Feli smiles bright, waving to the crowd as he steps forward to take the mic.

"Ve~ Hello everyone!"

Even the gathered trainers cheer up at the Champion, Alfred one of the loudest as he waves his hands over his head, while Arthur just rolls his eyes, but is clearly smiling.

"I'm so happy to see so many trainers come here just for a chance to challenge me! Aah, but there can be only one winner, so I only ask that you give this your all." He grins down at all the gathered trainers, and for a moment his expression become slightly more serious, "When you battle, remember the thoughts and feelings that have brought you to where you are today, remember what it is that you want to achieve, and push ever forward towards that goal." His grin widens and the carefreeness returns fully to his eyes, "Now go out there and lets see what you can do! Let the first annual Snow Star Tournament, Begin!"

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** Ah, double meaning titles are fun, aren't they?

Don't get caught out in blizzards kids, it's not fun, believe me.

Ah, the Awesome Trio has now been formed, what carnage they will bring...

Plus, guest cameo of the day; Davie is here!

And now everyone is ready and gearing up for the fight, with the long awaited appearance of Italy!

What's next for our heroes? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

And as a side note, I'll be going on holiday soon, so I probably won't be updating until I get back, so I'll leave you with this little sneak peek of what's to come.

* * *

"You better win Artie!" Al shouts from his seat as the blonde heads off.

For once, Arthur doesn't complain about the nickname, only waving a hand back as he heads inside.

He stretches as he walks down the mostly empty halls, everyone filling the stadium seats, waiting for the next match. The vendors lucky enough to set up shop inside the stadium, wave as he passes, some even rooting for him. He can't help smiling a bit as he goes, heading down the stairs for the tunnel to take him out onto the field.

Pulling out Casper's pokeball, he sighs happily, "I hope your ready for this one." He whispers as he rounds the corner.

"Are you?"

The sharp and all to familiar voice causes Arthur to stop dead in his tracks, looking up with wide eyes in shock, all joy leaving him like a burst balloon.

"Well __Arthur?__ Just __what__ do you have to say for yourself?" The displeasure in the voice is palpable as Arthur continues to stare.

"Dad..."

* * *

Until then, stay awesome!


	40. Snow Star Tournament begins!

212 competitors, whittled down to just 16 in two days.

Through a series of two rounds of group matches, and some odd luck of the draw, all of the group of friends somehow managed to make it through to the play-offs without battling each other once. Some matches were fierce and intense, while others were over before they even begun.

"Kesesesese! Did you guys see how awesome Gilbird was out there?" Gilbert grins, proudly stroking his Torchic's head in his arms as he returns from the last of the group matches.

"I'd hardly call __that__ 'awesome', you spent half the match just chasing that poor Joltic in circles." Arthur huffs unimpressed as the man joins them in the main lobby.

On the screens above each of the doorways, the rankings have updated to show the score of each of the competitors, and highlighted is the 16 moving on to the next stage.

Looking around, out of the 16 gathered, Arthur is quite surprised to find all of them made it through, with only four other trainers that he doesn't know, but none the less is pleased.

"Are you kidding? That was hilarious!" Alfred cries, grinning from ear to ear.

"Mmh, I think it was rather boring, watching you toy with your opponent put me to sleep." Ivan adds, yawning for effect.

"Ha, you just don't know what true awesomeness is, even when it's right in front of you." Gil waves him off, not letting his ego be deflated.

"Alright you lot!" An aid suddenly calls from one of the doorways leading into the stadium, "Time for you to go out."

With that, they turn and line up, proudly walking out to the main field just as they had done not two days ago.

Walking out, it suddenly hits Alfred just how far they've come in such a short amount of time. Were there had been two hundred odd somewhat crammed into the space, now, just he and a handful of others stand, with far more space between them. And looking up to the crowd of spectators who roar loudly at their appearance, he can't help feeling slightly overwhelmed. But he soon forgets these feelings as his attention is drawn to the Champion, once more standing on the box stage, smiling down at them between the two announcers.

"Ve~ Congratulations, you sixteen have proven yourselves to be both the most skilled and strongest trainers here, you have worked well with your partners to make it this far." He grins wider, eyes shining, "I'm so happy, seeing so many trainers getting along. Hehe, to make it this far, you all are already winners in my eyes. But now, the __real__ challenge begins!" He finishes, raising his hands up to the screen behind him as it comes to life.

Just like before, images of the sixteen appear on cards and are flipped and rotate, growing faster and faster, until they blur and then suddenly separate in a tiered line up. Watching the screen, Alfred holds his breath as the cards flip, revealing who will be battling who; Lukas vs Marcus, Lucy vs Arthur, Toris vs Emil, Natalia vs Mathias, Feliks vs Matthew, Alfred vs Zoe, Gilbert vs Tino and finally Tim vs Ivan.

Slowly Al releases his breath, somehow both happy and disappointed to not be fighting any of their group first.

"Alright!" Davie calls, drawing everyone's attention back to the stage, "We have our lineup, our competitors will have a day of rest to prepare, then, it's on to the main event!"

The crowd cheer once more and the group take their leave, thoughts of the upcoming battles occupying their thoughts.

"Haha, this is great!" Mathias booms as soon as they make it back to the lobby, full of energy, "I get to fight the hot chick first!"

Natalia, unimpressed, fixes him with a hard glare, "I will freeze you solid. You, and anybody else who get's in brothers way of victory."

Anyone else might have been put off by the look and cold attitude, but Mathias only grins more, "You can try, but you can't freeze __this__ cool guy!"

Luckily, Lukas chooses that moment to intervene before any sort of fight can start, smacking Mathias up side the head and pulling him away by the back of his coat, "Must you be so annoying?"

Meanwhile Feliks is also bouncing with excitement, "Ohh, this is so, like, amazing! I can't believe we all made it this far, and I'm up against the cuter twin first too!"

"Uhh..." Matthew blinks, not sure what to say to that as Al cries out indignantly, "Hey! How come he's the cuter one?! What about meeee?"

His childish whine only makes everyone burst out laughing.

"Heeeey! Mattie heeeeelp!"

"See? This is why he's cuter." Feliks grins knowingly, standing proud as the group only fall further into hysterics, Arthur, Ivan, Mathias and Gilbert doubling over with tears in their eyes.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

The rest day passed in the blink of an eye, and all to soon Alfred found himself climbing the stairs to the stands of the main arena, following Arthur and Mattie to find some good seats before the first match starts.

Sitting between his friend and brother, Alfred snuggles back into the heated seat for warmth in the open top stadium, Rufflet sat on his lap.

"Welcome ladies and Gentlemen!" Iris calls from the box stage, "It's a pleasure to have you all back here once again as we begin the playoffs of this tournament. And now, to begin, please welcome to the field, Lukas Bondevik and his opponent, Marcus Volt!"

At the shout, the pair walk out from opposite ends, Lukas still looking as impassive as ever, while his opponent, an older man has an air of confidence around him.

Between them, Berwald acting as referee nods and they send out their Pokemon.

"Glaaaaa!"

"Sliggoooooo!"

The Pokemon both cry out loudly as they appear, ready to fight.

"Ahh," Arthur nods, a slight smile on his face as he sits back, "Lukas has already won."

"Eh?" Confused by Arthur's sudden certainty, Alfred looks for an explanation, "What'd you mean?"

"Just watch, you'll see."

Curious, he does just that.

Out on the field, Lukas raises an eyebrow at the man opposite him.

"A Sliggoo, really?"

"Heh, just because Dragon types are at a disadvantage against Ice types doesn't mean they can't win."

There's a challenging glint to Lukas' eyes as he says, "I'd like to see you try." Before looking to his Glalie, "Ready, Jötunn?"

"Glaaa!"

Calmly, he calls, "Shadow Ball."

Floating in the air, his Glalie stays still as it forms the shadowy ball, before firing it directly at the Sliggoo.

But rather than dodging, Marcus smirks, "Heh, Sliggoo, use Bide now!"

Just before the attack lands, the Dragon Pokemon tenses, bracing itself as it takes the hit.

"Sliggoo..." It grunts, starting to glow with power.

The crowd Ohh in surprise at the tactic, but Lukas remains unimpressed, looking bored at the man.

"Mhh, so I was right." Lukas hums, more to himself than anything.

"Huh? What did you say?"

"Dragon types are notoriously weak to Ice types, so often trainers that use such Pokemon, create specific battle tactics to get around this weakness by playing on their Pokemon's strengths. It's not a bad plan, but, should your opponent __also__ be aware of those strengths, it makes you predictable, and easy." He explains, nodding to Sliggoo, "For example, Sliggoo's have a high special defence, making them able to take hits, so, naturally, you'd want to use that to your advantage, so Bide is the obvious choice. But," he nods to Glalie, watching as his Pokemon rises up into the air, "Bide is always a gamble that you can take the hits. Now Jötunn, Earthquake."

Obediently, Glalie drops down to the ground, hard, creating shockwaves from the resounding force that shake the whole stadium. The attack is so powerful, it can easily be felt up in the stands where Alfred and the others are watching.

Despite the force, Lukas remains calm as he speaks, "You should never gamble if you do not know the odds you are up against."

As the shaking stops, Sliggoo drops and the Berwald calls the match, "Sliggoo is unable to continue, Lukas wins."

Still with an impassive look, though now with the slightest hint of smugness, Lukas recalls his Pokemon as he takes his leave to roars of cheers at his quick victory.

"Whoa," Al winces, holding his head as he's still reeling from the Earthquake shaking him about in his seat, "That was nuts!"

"Told you." Arthur grins smugly as he stands, patting Al on his shoulder as he passes, "Try not to fall out of your seat while I'm gone."

"Eh? Oh right! Your up next!" Al cries, suddenly remembering.

"Yes, so do pay attention, you might learn something."

And just like that, he was gone, leaving Al still recovering.

By the time Arthur was called out for his first match, Al's head had finally stopped ringing.

"So," Mattie suddenly asks, having been quietly transfixed on the previous battle, "Who do you think will win this one?"

"Isn't it obvious? Artie, duh!" He grins, playfully punching his twins arm for doubting his friend.

With a mischievous grin Mattie asks, "Wanna bet on it?"

And so, that was how Al found himself screaming down at Arthur to win in three moves or less, while Arthur desperately tried to pretend he doesn't know the shouting lunatic.

"Casper, time for battle!"

"Misssss!" The playful Pokemon cackles, looping in the air with a backflip to land on Arthur's head, much to the crowds amusement.

Across from him, his opponent, a young girl by the name of Lucy giggles too, as she sends out her partner.

"Go, Omy!"

"Oooomaa!"

"An Omastar? That's rather a rare Pokemon." Arthur observes as the girl shyly holds her hands behind her back, smiling softly.

"Yup," she giggles, "But Omy is reeeeeeally strong. Wanna see?"

At that moment the ref calls the match to start and the girl grins toothily, "Omy, Ancient Power!"

She continues to giggle, twirling on the spot as her Pokemon frowns, it's serious look contrasting with the carefreeness of it's trainer, and generates large floating rocks to throw at Casper.

Despite this, Arthur needs give no command as Casper effortlessly floats between them, making it look easy.

"Perhaps, but Casper is better," Arthur smirks, "what do you say boy? Shall we give it another go?"

"Missss!" Rather enthusiastically, Misdreavus nods, looping in the air, even as the girl pouts at her attack missing.

"No fair, your supposed to let me hit you! Omy, squish them with your Rollout!" She cries indignantly.

"Hardly," Arthur just shakes his head, "Alright Casper, now use Hex."

"Misss, Miss!"

Effortlessly looping through the air, Casper get's in close, eyes glowing as he summons up is Ghost type power and attacks the rolling Omastar.

The hit lands, and Arthur smiles proudly, "Very good boy! Now, again!"

"Waah, Omy get them!" Lucy cries petulantly.

But no matter how much she whines, Casper is too quick, dodging the poorly directed Omastar with ease as he unleashes Hex after Hex.

"Now, lets see if we can pull this one off too. Finish with Psybeam." Arthur calmly calls, even as the girl is now red faced and stomping her feet in anger at not once having hit Casper.

Concentrating unusually hard for the carefree Pokemon, Casper focuses and launches a successful Psybeam.

"Omastar is unable to continue, Arthur wins." Berwald rumbles as the crowd cheers.

Up on the stands, Matthew grins, "You own me lunch."

Huffily, Al slumps, "Damn."

* * *

 ** **Authors notes:**** I return! Sunburnt as hell, but damn, it was worth it.

So now the tournament has started and it's only going to get crazier from here on out, so place your bets now, who do you think is going to win this thing? I'll be posting the tournament roster on my tumblr so check that out if you like.

What's next for our heroes? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time stay awesome!


	41. Toris vs Emil, Natalia vs Mathias

Alfred is still pouting about his lost bet when Arthur returns, just in time for the next match.

"What's wrong with your face?" Arthur asks as he takes his seat beside the blonde.

Matthew answers from the other side of Al, grinning smugly, "He owes me lunch."

"It's your fault for taking so long." Al huffs moodily, making Arthur quirk an eyebrow at the pair.

"You were betting on my battle? So _that_ explains your mad shouting." Arthur sighs, rolling his eyes.

Rather than dwell on his lost bet, Al switches topics as he asks, "So hey, I didn't know Casper had learned some new moves. When'd that happen?"

"Well," Arthur drawls, giving the blonde teen a smug look, "unlike _some_ people, _I_ have actually been doing some _proper_ training for this, not just messing around in the snow."

"Hey!"

Alfred opens his mouth to argue back that, yes he _has_ been training, but is cut off by Iris as she calls, "Please welcome our third pair out to the field, Toris Laurinaitis and Emil Steilsson!"

Turning their attention to the battlefield, Al cups his hands to his face as he shouts down to the pair walking out, "Good luck you guys!" While Arthur and Matthew both settle for clapping.

Out on the field, Toris looks nervous, just like he did the first time Al saw him performing back at Kansa Village. Al wonders if it's stage fright, given how much bigger this crowd is, but he doesn't have to worry for long, as Toris scans the crowd, he begins to calm when he spots them, and the wild cheering from Felix sitting somewhere behind him makes Toris visibly relax as he smiles up at them.

Across from him, Emil is the exact opposite, making it a point not to look at the crowd, seemingly choosing to ignore everyone. On his shoulder, his Chatot, Mr Puff, sits proudly puffing out his feathers as Emil takes his place in the marked trainers box.

Between them, as they take their places, Berwald gives the tiniest of smiles at Emil before calling the match to start.

"Golemas, let's do this." Toris calls somewhat calmer now than when he first walked out as he tosses his pokeball in the air, releasing his trusted partner.

"Goooll!" It roars, ready for battle.

Across from them, Emil frowns slightly at the Ghost Pokemon, looking it over.

"A Golett..." he mumbles to himself, before pulling out his pokeball, "Vetur, your up."

"Glaceooon!" His Pokemon cries as soon as it appears.

It's a beautiful Glaceon who's fur shimmers in the cold winter light as it stands ready for battle in the snow covered arena, and Toris momentarily forgets he's in a battle as he stares at the Ice type Pokemon in awe.

" _Wow_ , I've never seen a Glaceon who's coat shines like that, what do you use to get that sheen?" He asks, much to Emil's embarrassment.

His Glaceon seems to preen at the complement, while Emil shifts uncomfortably and mumbles, "This isn't a Contest, don't ask stupid questions..." before Mr Puff squawks, " _Stupid question! Battle now!_ Cha!"

Emil nods, turning his attention back to the battle and calls, "Right, Vetur, use Ice Beam."

"Glaaaa!"

Quickly, the Glaceon drops into an attack stance and opens its mouth to fire off the beam of ice energy straight for Golett.

Hurriedly remembering he's meant to be battling, and not admiring his opponents Pokemon, Toris calls out, "Golemas dodge with Rollout!"

"Goolll!"

Swiftly tucking into a ball, it does just that, rolling out of the way just in time as the beam passes where Golett had just been, freezing the ground solid.

Using the momentum from dodging, Golett continues to roll, turning to aim for Glaceon's flank, but rather than dodge, Chatot squawks, " _Hit it! Hit it,_ Cha!" While Emil frowns, "I know," he huffs to the bird, before calling, "Vetur, Iron Tail!"

Rolling at speed, just before Golemas makes contact, Glaceon glances back and uses it's front paws to twist on the spot, it's tail glowing with power as it slams the limb into Golett's side, knocking it away to spin out into the middle of the field.

As Golett lies prone on it's back, both Emil and Mr Puff call, " _Ice Beam_ again!"

Charging forward, Glaceon jumps into the air for a better angle and fires the attack down. At the moment it jumps, Toris sparked with an idea, calls quickly, "Block with Ice Beam too!"

Just able to sit up slightly in time, Golett obeys, firing off it's own beam and the two collide in midair, the twin beams form a glowing ball of cold energy at the point of contact, before it builds and creates a massive explosion.

Snow and ice is blasted about the field as Glaceon is pushed away by the force, but is able to land safely, and Golett slides back as it works to get up again.

Just as the wind from the explosion settles, a scattering of snowflakes begin to fall through the open roof and Emil gives a sly smirk at the sight.

"Finally," looking up to the darkened sky as the snow fall increases, he puts his plan into action, "Vetur, Aurora Veil!"

While Toris is caught of guard by the changing weather, Glaceon cries out as it's whole body glows with power and dazzling lights of green, blue and pink dance in the sky above.

Mr Puff takes over and immediately squawks, "Cha, _Iron Tail, Iron Tail!_ "

As Glaceon sets of charging for Golett, Toris quickly regains his composure and counters with, "Quickly, use Stomping Tantrum!"

Hurriedly Golett begins stomping its feet and swinging its arms, aiming to kick or punch Glaceon, but the quickly growing snowstorm makes it hard to see, and even when it does hit, it doesn't seem to do much damage at all. As Golett continues to swing at it, with the aid of the storm for cover, Glaceon is able to slip past and strike Golett in the chest, pushing it backwards.

"Ice Beam Golemas!" Toris calls worriedly at seeing how close Glaceon is.

In response Emil cries, "Double Team, now!"

Moving at rapid speed, dozens of copies of Glaceon appear through the snow, surrounding Golett as it's attack misses the real one.

Unsure of which are fakes and which is real, Toris isn't able to react in time as Emil calls once more, "Vetur, Ice Beam!"

All of the copies move at once, and even as Toris calls Golemas to dodge, it's no use as the true attack lands, and Golett is frozen over.

Toris stares in defeat as just barely visible through the storm, Berwald rumbles, "Golett is unable to continue, Emil wins."

Above them, the crowd roar particularly loudly at the victory.

Arthur and Matthew both clap while they can hear Feliks whining at the loss, but Alfred feels torn.

"Aww, it sucks that Toris lost, but Emil was really good too."

Arthur nods, "Yes, Emil's a lot stronger than I remember, but it has been four years." He ponders, "Lukas and Mathias too, from what I've seen of them so far anyway."

"Really?"

"Mhh, they've all raised their Pokemon well. I remember when Emil first brought Eevee home," he chuckle softly, shaking his head before murmuring, "Last time I saw everyone, Jötunn was still a little Snorunt and Mathias was bragging about how he was going to evolve Skråstreg some day."

Alfred watches as Arthur grows quieter the more he talks, sighing sadly, before suddenly switching gears and looking back down to the arena, "Speaking of, Mathias is up next."

"Huh, you mean their still going to battle in this weather?" Al asks surprised as he frowns down at the barely visible field below.

"Of course," Arthur says this as if it were obvious, "Haven't you paid attention to _anything_?" He sighs, but explains anyway, "The whole reason the stadium was built with an open roof is so battle's can take advantage of the changeable weather conditions of the mountains. It forces trainers to have to adapt, if you can't, your going to have a hard time of it out there. That's why the group stages took place in the roofed domes, so this would give the 'main event' an extra element of surprise."

"Oh."

Alfred wonders how Arthur always seems to know all this stuff, but before he can say more, he hears both Mathias and Natalia being introduced.

The exuberant blonde is as loud and cheerful as ever, seemingly unbothered by the heavy snow as he waves up at the crowd. Alfred can't help but shout and wave back down at him, cheering his new friend on, while Arthur just smiles at the antics, but claps anyway.

Across from him, Natalia couldn't be more different.

A look of cold concentration is etched into her features as she stares Mathias down across the field.

The pair waste no time in sending out their Pokemon; Skråstreg, who Mathias has exclusively used to wipe out every opponent he's gone against, smirks wickedly through the snow at Natalia.

"I hope you don't expect me to go easy on you just because your a chick!" He laughs, not that Natalia seems remotely amused.

"Enough of your damn bragging. For my brother, Kаханне and I will remove you from his path." She huffs as she sends out her Pokemon, a Jynx.

From the stands, Alfred oohs and looks to Arthur, wanting to know what he thinks.

"Hmm, they're both Ice types, so neither will have a problem fighting in this snow storm, but..."

"Yeah?" Al asks eagerly.

"Weavile may have the type advantage here, but we both know Natalia isn't to be underestimated."

"Yeah, but Skråstreg is really strong, you saw how he took down that Delphox in the group stages. At that was at a _double_ type disadvantage!"

Arthur hums, but says no more on the matter as Matthew, who had been listening in, leans over and slyly asks Al, "Wanna bet on it?"

"No way dude!" He cries, shaking his head, "I already owe you lunch."

Looking entirely innocent, Matthew tilts his head and asks, "So you _don't_ think he's going to win?"

Well damn, now Al _has_ to bet on it, or it'll look like he doesn't believe Mathias will win, and Matthew grins knowing full well the corner he's backed his twin into.

"Fine." Al groans, as Mattie sets a lofty price of 400 credits, twice the normal amount they usually bet, his brother must be confident that Natalia is going to win this.

Al hurriedly turns his attention back to the field as he hears the battle start, shouting for Mathias to win this.

Natalia's commands are short and clipped, while Mathias is much more upbeat.

"Focus Blast."

"Wait for it, then dodge and use Hone Claws!"

Jynx, much like her trainer, wastes no time in attacking, lifting it's hands together to form a concentrated ball of energy, before pushing it forward, sending it flying towards Weavile. But even through the snow, Weavile is able to see the attack coming with ease, and effortlessly jumps out of the way, claws glowing with power as it raises its Attack and Accuracy.

"Now go Skråstreg, use Metal Claw!"

Natalia, seemingly unfazed by the charging Pokemon, only says one word, "Psychic."

"That won't work on us!" Mathias taunts, smirking as his Pokemon closes in.

Natalia only frowns, watching as rather than aiming for Weavile, Jynx uses its Psychic power to control the snow within the storm, pulling it to spiral around Weavile, trapping it within a mini tornado of snow and blocking it's path to Jynx.

Mathias begins to frown, losing some of his playful edge as his line of sight is cut off from his Pokemon.

"Skråstreg, Hone Claw then Night Slash!"

"Weaaa!" His Pokemon cries through the storm and with black energy wrapped claws, slices the snownado apart, successful in freeing it's self, much to Mathias's relief.

But while he was distracted and blocked from view, Jynx took the opening to get in close, and just as the snow clears, it grabs Weavile.

"Draining Kiss." Natalia commands, and Jynx does just that, catching the struggling Weavile's face with a kiss that slowly drains its energy.

All playfulness disappears from Mathias as he becomes completely serious, which in a way, is a complement to Natalia's skill, as she's forced him out of his usual carefree battle style, a rare thing indeed.

Frowning in determination, he calls out to his Pokemon, "Metal Claw now!"

"Weee...Vile!"

Hearing the change in his trainers voice, Skråstreg's attitude also seems to shift, as it's claws shine with power, before forcefully bringing its pinned arm up to slice Jynx across the face, causing it to release Weavile.

"J-Jyyynx..." Kаханне groans at the painful hit, as she stumbles backwards.

Now free, Mathias wastes no time in calling his next move.

"Ice Punch into the ground!"

Doing as told, Weavile grins wickedly at the still reeling Jynx as it brings its fist down hard into the ground before it.

As the snow around Skråstreg freezes over in a layer of ice, Natalia is quick to counter.

"Focus Blast!"

Jynx obeys, quickly forming the ball of energy once more and launching it at the still close Weavile, but, with the ice covered ground as an aid, Skråstreg is too quick, easily skating away to dodge the attack.

"Keep moving!" Mathias calls as he watches his Pokemon skate circles around the stationary Jynx.

But rather than be rattled by the fast moving and hard to hit Weavile, Natalia remains calm as she waits for her moment to strike.

The crowd hold their breath as they watch through the snow, the tension building, until suddenly Mathias breaks the silence, "Night Slash now!"

Without missing a beat, as Weavile rounds the back of Jynx, it dashes forward, claws cloaked in darkness, ready to strike.

"Up now." Natalia calls with the cool calmness of one who knows exactly what to do.

And sure enough, just as she calls, Kаханне rises straight up into the air by using Psychic in itself, causing Weavile to miss and slide straight underneath.

Just as Weavile is directly below, Natalia calls out, "Frost Breath." And Jynx, while still floating, breathes a blast of ice cold air down on Weavile.

Even though the attack does little damage, the cold air mists and becomes like a fog, causing Skråstreg to have to shield its face and making it impossible for Weavile to see Jynx above it, exactly as Natalia was planning.

"Focus Blast!"

"Jyyynx!"

Before the mist fully clears, and before Mathias or Weavile can see it coming, the ball of energy hurtles through the air to slam directly into Weavile.

The force is strong enough to knock Skråstreg off its feet, and at the same time Jynx stops using Psychic and drops down to land heavily on top of it.

"Skråstreg!" Mathias cries, but as the mist fully clears, it's already over.

"Weavile is unable to continue, Natalia wins."

Berwald's voice breaks the spell over the audience, and the crowd erupt in cheers. The man gives Mathias an apologetic look, while Natalia simply recalls her partner and walks away, leaving the blonde to run to his Pokemon's side.

"Skråstreg are you alright?"

"Wea..ville..."

"Damn, sorry buddy, I really thought we had this one." He sighs, before smiling as he recalls his Pokemon, standing to wave to the crowd one last time as he walks off.

"Alright!" Davie calls once both are gone from the field, drawing everyone's attention to him, "Those were some great battles out there. Now, we'll be taking a quick break to reset the field, then it's onto the next battle!"

Taking that as their cue, the crowd begins to thin out as people take this as an opportunity to stretch their legs and grab a snack. Within minutes only a handful of people are left in the stadium.

Once the place quietens down, Matthew turns to Al and grins.

"Al~" He sings as his brother groans, knowing exactly what is coming, "Time to pay up."

Arthur watches amusedly as Al is forced to fish out the last of the credits he has, since Arthur had commandeered control of the majority of their funds after the 'sniper' incident.

"Ooh, did you lose a bet?" Feliks asks, smiling as he and Toris move down to sit in the seats directly behind the trio, leaning over to watch the exchange.

"I don't get it!" Al huffs, "How could Mathias lose?"

"Because he is weak." Natalia says simply as she follows Ivan and Gilbert to join up with them, having been sat somewhere further down the stands.

"You were betting on me?" Mathias suddenly asks as he too, along with Emil, Lukas and Tino come to join the group from the opposite direction.

"Your not the only one, he was betting on my match too." Arthur adds.

"Yeah, and I lost both bets." Al whines while Matthew seems quite pleased.

"When will you learn not to bet against me? You _never_ win."

"Hey, I do win!" Al protests.

"Oh, when?"

"I don't know, but I do...sometimes..." He tries to defend himself, but slowly trails off as he finds he can't actually remember a time he's won.

Matthew let's him squirm for a bit longer, before dropping it.

Meanwhile Feliks leans over the back of Mattie's chair to poke Kuma in the cheek, "Aww, so totally adorable!"

"Oh yeah, you two are up next, right?" Al asks, hopping onto the new subject to get away from his bad betting luck, "You better win bro." He adds, grinning at his twin.

"Heeey!" Feliks whines, pretending to be hurt, "I thought we were, like, tots friends and stuff."

Ivan smiles happily as he watches the antics, "Ah, but blood is thicker than water, no?"

Natalia nods in agreement while Gilbert starts to laugh, "Kesese, just don't bet on him and he'll be fine."

The group snicker as Feliks's eyes widen and he cries, "Don't bet on me either!"

Alfred turns away, huffily crossing his arms as he tries to ignore his friends cackling, "Damn my stupid luck..."

* * *

 **Authors notes:** And the battles continue, we're halfway through round one, and now Toris and Mathias are out of the running. Some of our competitors have been training more than others, so expect to see a few changes, and maybe a surprise or two? Who knows.

What's next for our heroes? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time stay awesome!


	42. Matthew vs Feliks, Alfred vs Zoe

"Welcome back to the second half of round one of the tournament stage! Now please welcome out to the field our next pair of competitors, Matthew Jones and Felix Łukasiewicz!"

Sitting in the stands, Alfred hugs Rufflet to himself, bouncing in his seat as he watches his twin walk out. The snow has died down a bit over the lunch break, but it's still falling enough to cause him to have to squint a bit to be able to see. Around him, the others all cheer loudly for both their friends, and Alfred can't keep it in any longer. Throwing his arms up into the air, he roars for his brother.

" **Mattie! You got this bro! Win for Mom and Dad!** "

Anyone else might be embarrassed by the scene Al is causing, but not Matthew. His brother smiles, keeping one hand to hold Kuma to his chest while he waves up at Al with the other as he takes his place on the field.

Across from him, Feliks pouts and dramatically crosses his arms, pretending to be offended that Al would choose to cheer for his twin and not his friend. But he can't keep up the cross look for long as he soon cracks a smile.

"Trainers ready?" Berwald asks and the pair nod.

"Okay Kuma, let's do this." Matt murmurs calmly as he let's his Cubchoo down.

"Cub?" It tilts its head back at him in question before toddling out to the field.

Feliks can't help squealing at the display, "Awww _so cute!_ " But then his grin turns mischievous as he takes out his familiar pink heal ball, "But no one is as cute as my Cutie!"

"Cuuuuutiefly." His Pokemon sings as it's released, fluttering about in the air as it looks around.

Once both Pokemon are out Berwald gives the call to start.

"Alright Cutie, Stun Spore into Fairy Wind!" Feliks starts of happily.

"Cuuu!"

Just like if this were a Contest, Cutiefly twirls around, tossing the spores it generates up into the air, then immediately switches to rapidly fluttering it's tiny wings. The falling spores are then blown forward with the shimmering scales of the attack towards the grounded Cubchoo. But Matthew is unfazed as he quickly counters.

"Two can play at that game, Kuma, Icy Wind."

Taking a deep breath first, Kuma then breathes out a blast of ice cold air to battle against the Fairy wind. The gently falling snow swirls around with the dual air currents fighting for supremacy.

"You can do it Cutie!" Feliks calls encouragingly, and his Pokemon responds, fluttering it's wings quicker to put as much power as possible into the attack.

"Kuma!" Matt calls out to his partner too, and just like Cutiefly, Cubchoo responds, opening its mouth more to increase the blast power.

There's a tense moment where both are still equally matched, but then the tide turns in Kuma's favour as Cutiefly begins to tire. The swirling snow shows the switch in the air flow, and a moment later Cutie is blown back with the force of the attack.

Not wanting to lose the small advantage he's gained, Matt quickly calls his next move.

"Now use Brine!"

Once again Kuma opens its mouth to attack, but this time launching a spray of salt water towards the Bug Pokemon.

"Cutie dodge!"

Skilfully Cutiefly rights itself and easily flutters around the spray, avoiding the attack. While it dodges, Cutie also closes in on Cubchoo as Feliks grins wide.

"Now, like, dazzle them with your Draining Kiss!"

Swiftly flying down, Cutiefly lands a kiss directly onto Cubchoo's forehead. But Matthew sees his chance even as Kuma's energy is being drained.

"Kuma, Yawn."

Cutely, Cubchoo lets out a big yawn as it stumbles backwards. The effects are instant as Cutiefly becomes drowsy, it's wings fluttering slower as it hovers close to the ground.

Recognising the danger, Feliks is quick to call his Pokemon to get away, but Cutie is now much slower to respond, leaving an opening for Matthew to exploit.

"Kuma, use Brine!"

Not fast enough from drowsiness to dodge like last time, the attack hits, sending Cutiefly into the ground with the force of the watery attack.

"Cutie no!" Feliks cries.

For as the attack ends, he sees Cutiefly lying asleep in the wet snow.

"Come on, wake up!" He begs, But it's no use.

With Cutiefly a sleep with no sign of waking up, all it takes is for one more attack from Kuma to end it.

"Lets finish with Icy Wind."

"Cuuub!" Happily Kuma obeys, blasting the wet and sleeping bug Pokemon with it's ice cold breath and ending the fight.

"Cutiefly is unable to continue, Matthew wins." Berwald nods to the pair as the crowd cheer.

Even without looking Matt can here Alfred going mad as he cheers at his win. Still, as he picks up Kuma, he wants to be sure Cutiefly is alright.

He quickly walks across the field to where Feliks is gently scooping his Pokemon up to cradle in his hands.

"Hey, I hope Cutie is alright."

Feliks looks up, then grins happily back at him, not at all looking like someone who just lost a battle.

"Oh yeah, she'll be fine." His grin widens as he shifts to hold his poor Pokemon in his left hand and stick his right out to Matt, "That was, like, a totally cool match."

Matthew feels himself smile too as he shakes Feliks's hand, and above them, the crowd cheer loudly again at the sight.

"Ve~" They all suddenly hear the Champion's voice, "See? That's how to do it!" He chirps happily into a mic from the box stage, "No matter what happens out on the field, we're all still friends in the end."

Matthew is a little stunned by the sudden praise, he was just wanting to make sure everything was okay, but Feliks takes it like a natural. He breaks the handshake to wave up at the crowd as he turns to walk off, and Matt quickly heads off too, not wanting to be the sole centre of attention.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

Heading back up the stairs to the stands, Matthew runs into Alfred on his way down.

"Hey bro!" Al calls from the top of the flight of stairs, hurriedly running down them to meet Matthew on the lower landing, Rufflet flying after him.

As soon as Al reaches him, he traps his twin in a crushing hug, picking Matt up and spinning around in glee.

"Al stop, your squishing Kuma." Matt gasps, trying to wriggle free.

"Oops, sorry! Haha, but hey, you won!" Al beams as he releases them, then playfully punches his brother on the arm. "I knew you'd do it!"

"Ruffflet!" Ruffy chirps in agreement, coming to land on Al's head.

Matthew rolls his eyes at the claim, carefully putting a bit of space between him and his overly excited twin.

"Obviously _you'd_ say that." He gives an exaggerated sigh at Al's antics, shaking his head slightly before changing topic, "Your up next right?"

"Yup! And it's not against one of our friends, so I can go all out on this one!"

Matthew seriously resists the urge to roll his eyes again.

"As if you _don't_ always go all out anyway."

Rather than be offended, Al just laughs Matt's words off, giving his twin a quick two fingered salute as he moves past him to continue heading down, his Pokemon taking flight to follow once more.

"You better win," Matt calls after him, sending his brother a sly smile, "After all, I'd _hate_ to have to show you up by winning more than you."

He can easily here Alfred's laugh even as he rounds the next landing to the last flight of stares.

"No way!" He calls back up just as he disappears from view, "I plan on being the one to beat you in round two!"

Matt blinks as the sound of Alfred running down the stairs fades away. He's actually surprised that Al had noticed; if he wins, then the twins will face each other next round.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"…red Jones, and his opponent, Zoe Keus!"

Running through the tunnel leading out to the field, Al makes it just in time, charging out as Iris introduces him, his opponent already standing waiting. He grins over at the twenty-something-year-old in an attempt to cover his near lateness. She maintains a level expression, flicking her brown eyes up and down, taking in everything about Al, then when satisfied, she gives him the faintest of smiles.

Growing more and more excited by the minute, Alfred hardly even pays attention to the crowd cheering as he makes his choice.

With a slight upwards tilt of his head, his grin widens as he calls, "Freedom, time to shine!" And watches the bird Pokemon take flight once more to hover over the field before him.

His opponent gives nothing away as she pulls out a familiar green pokeball. Alfred cocks his head at it, recognising it as one of the Park balls from the National Park. For a moment he wonders what it'll be, there are so many different kinds of Pokemon he saw living in the Park, he even considers it could be another Larvitar like Jade.

Still, Zoe maintains a level expression as she releases her partner.

"Berloooom!"

Frowning slightly, Al tries to remember where he's seen this Pokemon before, when a voice in the back of his head that sounds _suspiciously_ like Arthur's reminds him to use his Pokédex. Fishing the device out, he hurriedly points it at the Pokemon.

 _"Breloom, the Mushroom Pokemon. Breloom closes in on its foe with light and springy footwork, then throws punches with its stretchy arms. The seeds on its tail are made of toxic spores."_

' _Breloom… and it's pre-evolved form Shroomish… oh!_ ' Realisation suddenly hits Al, ' _Now I remember, we used to keep Shroomish on the farm when I was a kid, then trade them off when they evolved._ '

Alfred suddenly feels a bit nostalgic, but forces himself to shake off the feeling to focus on the task at hand. His confident grin returns as he stuffs his Pokédex back in his pocket with one hand, and waves up to Mattie and the rest with the other.

Statistically, this should be easy, a Grass and Fighting type is doubly weak to a Flying type like Rufflet, but Al knows by now not to get carried away. After all, there's a lot more to battling than type match ups.

When Berwald gives the call to begin, the light snow suddenly stops, just as quick as it had started not so long ago.

Normally, everyone is quick to act as soon as the start is called, but much to Al's surprise, Zoe does nothing, only stands there waiting.

Deciding to be cautious, Al makes the first move.

"Keep your distance and use Leer!"

"Ruff!"

And his caution pays off.

Flying high into the air, Rufflet pins Breloom with its gaze, successfully lowering its defence. Clearly annoyed by the lack of a direct attack, his opponent seems to switch gears and makes her move.

"Breloom, Stone Edge!"

"Bre, bre!"

Slamming its fist into the ground, the Grass Pokemon generates large spike like rocks to rise up out of the ground, one after another, in a line towards Ruffy. Each rock is taller than the last, but none of them are able to hit Rufflet as it easily flies higher and avoids the attack.

But this, it seems was merely a diversion.

While both Al and Ruffy where focused on the rising rocks, Breloom was on the move. Using the rocks like stepping stones, it swiftly jumped across the peeks. As it reached the last one, the pair hear the woman calling, "Now, Thunder Punch."

Electricity crackles as it shrouds the Pokemon's fist, before Breloom leaps the highest yet, arm back and ready to strike. Too close and too fast to react in time, Rufflet is hit squarely in the chest, electric energy shocking its system as it's knocked out of the air.

"Ruffy!" Al cries helplessly as he watches his Pokemon fall.

"Finish it with Low Sweep!" His opponent calls, now not missing a beat.

As Breloom descends from its jump, it twists and spins in mid air, creating more power and momentum behind it as it falls, aiming directly for the prone Rufflet.

" _Ruffy!_ " Alfred cries again, and this time, his voice gets through.

Moments before hitting the ground, Rufflet rights itself, wings spread, it twists to loop back up into the air mere inches from impact and flies forward to weave between the rocks. A fraction of a second later, Breloom crashes into the ground tail first, now devoid of Rufflet.

Taking advantage of the turn around, Al quickly calls out, "Aerial Ace!"

While Breloom is still recovering from the heavy landing, and is slightly blocked from its trainers view, Rufflet loops up over the top of the tallest rock to come down behind Breloom and strike.

"Bre…"

The Breloom groans as it finds itself smashed into the ground once more and Rufflet high in the air again after the hit.

"Alright Ruffy, again!" Al shouts happily.

"Ruuuuuf!"

Looping back around in the air, Rufflet dives quickly for Breloom. But once locked into it's attack path, Zoe suddenly calls, "Stone Edge once more!"

"Bre…Breloom!"

Like before, a row of sharp rocks rises up heading for Rufflet, but this time, Alfred knows what to expect.

"Go Ruffy!"

As each rock rises, Rufflet expertly weaves side to side, dodging all of them, but just as it weaves around the last of them, Zoe's call comes once more.

"Grab it Breloom!"

Rufflet hits Breloom dead on, but rather than be knocked over or sent flying, Breloom plants it's feet and grabs hold of the birds wings, holding it in place as Breloom only skids backwards a little before they both come to a complete stop.

"Mega Drain now!"

As it's held in place, Rufflet feels it's energy slowly being drained and Breloom becoming stronger in the process.

"Quick, Ruffy Peck!"

Desperately, Rufflet struggles to peck at the arms holding it, but to no avail.

Switching plans, Alfred calls for Ruffy to use Fury Attack. Rufflet tries as hard as it can, but with its wings pinned, all it can use is its feet. It swings them around to kick and scratch at the Breloom's body, but it seems to have little effect.

Across the field, Al hears Zoe call once more, "Low Sweep!" And all Alfred can do is desperately shout and believe in his partner.

"Come on Ruffy, you can do it!"

Through sheer luck and will, not wanting to let its trainer down, Rufflet focuses as much power as it can into its talons and, as Breloom winds its tail back for the hit, Ruffy swings it's leg forward as hard as it can, talons cloaked in energy, it slashes at Breloom's chest, finally causing enough damage to cause the Grass Pokemon to loosen its hold just enough for Ruffy to get free.

Breloom winces from the Slash, But continues with its attack. As it swings its tail around, Rufflet wriggles free and hops up into the air, and repeating the process, slashes its talons across the Breloom's face.

Breloom stumbles back, and seeing the opportunity, Alfred quickly calls, "Ruffy Peck!"

Flying forward, Rufflet aims once more for the Grass Pokemon's face with as much force as it can, and this time, Breloom drops.

"Breloom is unable to continue, Alfred wins."

There's a moment of stunned silence from Alfred as he is still feeling the rush of adrenaline to properly process Berwald's voice, before he jumps in the air, pumping his fist and shouting in joy at his victory.

"Woo! Ruffy, we won!"

"Ruuuuuflet!"

His Pokemon cries happily too at the win, flying over to be embraced in a bone crushing hug from its trainer.

As he spins his Pokemon, Al's eyes automatically scan the crowd above for Arthur, and that's when he suddenly realises just how many people are up there. The cheers from the spectators fill the stadium and leave him slightly disoriented as he tries to find his friends among the masses of faces. But, as he notices, it's not hard to find them, what with the odd group standing out easily in their little corner.

He waves up to them as a warmth fills his chest.

This, standing here, feeling the rush of exhilaration from an intense battle, and ears ringing with the cheers of fans, it's the best feeling in the world.

* * *

 **Authors notes:** And onwards we go.

This chapter just did not want to be written, odd, since I knew what I wanted to happen but, eh, what can you do? *shrugs*

But yes, Kuma is both adorable and strong, and Ruffy has learnt a new move: Slash!

Just two more matches left in round one!

What's next for our heroes? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time stay awesome!


	43. Gilbert vs Tino, Ivan vs Tim?

By the time Alfred made it back to his seat, the next match was just about to begin.

"Welcome back." Arthur drawls as Al clambers over the feet of other people to flop down into his chair, Mattie smiling happily over at him as he watches.

"Good job out there, Ruffy really came through."

"Ha, did you doubt us?" Al grins, playfully raising his fist to his twin as Rufflet gives a proud chirp.

Rolling his eyes, Matthew gives in to his brother's antics, raising his hand for the fist bump.

"So who's next?" Al asks as the crowd around them suddenly roars. In all the excitement of his battle, he's forgotten the order of matches.

Rather than answer him, Arthur just sighs, gesturing out to the field below.

Alfred must have missed the introductions, as he can see Gilbert and Tino already in place, ready to start. Once again, Al feels torn; on one hand, he really wants to cheer for Gil, but on the other, Tino is one of the people he's currently staying with, so it'd be rude not to support him…

Making his mind up, Al shouts for both of them equally.

"You can do it Gil! Go for it Tino!"

On the field, Gilbert, with his precious Torchic nestled in his hair, grins confidently over at Tino who smiles back just as friendlily. To the side, Berwald gives the faintest of smiles at Tino as the short man pulls out his pokeball.

"Isn't this fun?" Tino asks, "Mathias says your quite strong."

"Obviously." Gil boasts, pulling out a ball of his own and repeatedly tossing it up then catching it.

"Good," Tino grins excitedly, a cunning edge glinting in his eyes, "Sardine-Panic could use a good work out." He says as he throws his ball.

"Deliiiii!" It cries as it's released, excitedly bouncing from foot to foot.

One look at his opponent's choice, and Gilbert becomes even more self-assured by the minute.

"A Delibird huh? Don't make things too easy for me!" He laughs, tossing the ball in his hand high into the air and calling out, "Berlitz! Time to bring the heat!"

"Arrrrccccc!" His Pokemon howls loudly, it's size and power creating an intimidating air as soon as it appears.

Fierce eyes land on Delibird, and the happy Pokemon seems to shrink back under its gaze, the Ice Pokemon's attack immediately lowering as a result.

"Oh an Arcanine, this'll be fun!" Tino chirps, clapping his hands together in anticipation, seemingly unbothered by the effect on his partner.

Before the call to start is even fully finished, the two are on the move, both trainers showing their experience.

"Berlitz, Extreme Speed, go!" Gilbert calls, throwing his arm out confidently.

"Protect SP!" Tino shouts, his grin growing.

In the blink of an eye, Arcanine is off, charging across the field with blistering speed, leaving a trail of kicked up snow in his wake, straight for Delibird. In the same moment, Delibird swings its tiny wings forward and generates a blue tinted dome-shaped barrier, surrounding itself, and Arcanine slams headfirst into it. But neither trainer seems surprised by this turn of events, not wasting a moment before calling their next move.

In the moment while Arcanine is still pressed against the barrier by its momentum, Gil calls out, "Thunder Fang!"

The Protect, having absorbed the hit, pushes the Fire type Pokemon back as it begins to dissipate. Then, the second Berlitz's feet touch the ground, it's pushing off, lunging forward as it summons electrical energy to cloak its teeth.

At that precise moment, Tino makes his call, "Use Present on the ground SP!"

"Dellllliiii!"

Reaching into it's sack, Delibird pulls out a large handful of spheres and tosses them down between it and the lunging Arcanine, where they explode on contact. The multiple explosions, though not very large or overly powerful, create several dust clouds mixed with snow which swirl together and hide it from Berlitz's and Gil's line of sight. Regardless of the cloud, Arcanine dives through, snapping its mouth shut where it last saw Delibird, only for it to bite thin air.

"Drill Peck, Sardine-Panic!"

From within the dust, Delibird suddenly appears, quickly rotating it's body clockwise as it strikes a painful hit to Berlitz's right side, before disappearing once more into the dust cloud.

Despite the hit, Gil doesn't pause for a second, already planning his next move.

"Berlitz, use Flame Charge around the dust!"

"Arrrrccccc!"

Swiftly as it can, Arcanine wraps it's body in flames and charges, encircling the dust cloud as it runs around and around, the heat from its flames strong enough to melt the snow beneath it's feet. As it runs it's speed increases, but also the dust is super heated and funnelled, now trapping Delibird in the very place it sought to hide.

"Deeee…liiii…"

Worry twists in Tino's face as he hears the pained cry of his Pokemon, but he remains focused.

"Quick SP, Fly!"

As Arcanine continues to run, the heat and flames cause the swirling dust to catch, transforming it into a fire tornado, but Delibird is able to escape, flying high to burst out the top of the fiery funnel, embers spilling of its wings and the white sack it carries.

"Go SP!" Tino calls, watching as his Pokemon dives down aiming for the Fire Pokemon.

"Double Team now!" Gil shouts.

As Delibird swoops down, it flies straight through where Arcanine had been. In a moment unseen by the bird Pokemon it had moved, leaving behind only an after image, one of many now surrounding it where Delibird stands.

No longer being maintained by Arcanine's speed, the fire tornado breaks apart, disappearing into the wind, but it's use is not yet over. Thanks to the intense heat, all the snow on the ground has been melted back to leave only a small ring around the edge of the field. And without the snow, Tino has no way of tracking where Arcanine is.

With no other choice but to try to take out all the images at once, Tino makes his move.

"Use Present on all of them!" He cries.

Gilbert grins, he's not going to fall for that trick again.

"Now Berlitz, Extreme Speed!"

Delibird tosses as many spheres as it can, but there are simply too many, and Arcanine is able to move in undetected, slamming its head hard into the birds body and sending it flying across the field.

"SP!" Tino cries worriedly as he watches his Pokemon roll across the ground to land in the remaining snowbank, but Gilbert isn't done.

"Go Berlitz, Flame Charge!"

Barely even pausing from landing the first attack, Arcanine is on the move again, shrouded in flames and accelerating, it crashes into the prone Delibird, this time hitting it with enough force to send it hurtling into the wall.

The flames dissipate from Berlitz as Delibird drops to the ground once more, leaving a crater behind in the wall.

With a distinctly sad grumble to his voice, Berwald calls the match, "Delibird is unable to continue, Gilbert wins."

Tino signs sadly as he recalls his Pokemon. "Aww, sorry Sardine-Panic. I guess this wasn't our day." Then, he smiles, taking the loss in stride.

Across from him, a smug, face splitting grin spreads across Gil's face as he laughs, "Kesesesese, _that's_ how you do it! This is the awesome might of my Berlitz!"

Pokemon like trainer, Arcanine seems to strut across the field back to Gil, before dipping its head to lick the albinos face in joy.

Above them, the crowd laughs and Gil's ego deflates, if only a little.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Now please welcome out to the field, our last pair for today, Tim Smeek and his opponent, Ivan Braginsky!" Iris calls loudly into the mic, somehow still full of energy.

If Alfred had been paying attention, he would have noticed that throughout the day, the crowd's cheering for the competitors has varied. For some it was modest for this sort of competition, but for certain others, they were much louder. But he hadn't been paying attention, or he would have noticed that the crowd were significantly louder this time than they were for his match.

Being semi well known as he is, it's no surprise that Ivan draws such a roar as he walks out. No doubt used to the attention, Ivan seems unbothered, but his opponent, a rather young boy, seems rather surprised. It's plain as day for anyone to see; the crowd is fully in Ivan's favour, something that he soon justifies.

The boy Tim sends out a Sandshrew, the small Ground type dwarfed by Ivan's much larger Abomasnow.

The match was over before it even began.

"Sandy use Dig." The boy called timidly.

Quickly the Pokemon disappeared underground, but that wasn't going to save it from Ivan.

"Snowy, use Wood Hammer on the ground."

"Aboma, snow!"

Raising its arm up, the crowd watched with bated breath as the Ice type held it there, no doubt for dramatic effect, before slamming it down so hard the whole stadium shook with the force and the ground under it's arm caved-in, the collapse traveling like a fissure up to the hole Sandshrew had made.

"Ahhh Sandy!" The boy called worriedly when the shaking stopped, pensively looking towards the cave-in. When no movement was seen or heard, Ivan waved Abomasnow to go in.

From the collapse beneath Abomasnow's feet, it pulled out the fainted Pokemon.

"Sandshrew is unable to continue, Ivan wins."

The crowd, silenced by awe at the quick win, murmur quietly, before the sound builds, louder and louder to become a deafening roar of cheering and clapping.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Oh my Arceus…" Alfred whispers as he watches Ivan walk off the field, "That was _insane._ "

"Hmm," Arthur hums, "Seems Ivan is a lot stronger since we last saw him."

"Ya _think?!_ "

"Pssh, that was luck." Gilbert says from behind them, waving the awestruck look off Al's face, "The kid was obviously pretty weak, and using a _Ground type_ against and Ice and Grass, he was bound to lose."

"You doubt brothers strength, then you're an idiot." Natalia warns ominously to his right.

"Did you see the way he held it?" Feliks asks from somewhere down the line, "He like, so totally knew that was going to happen. What a show off." He huffs, moodily crossing his arms.

"It _was_ a little over the top." Toris agrees beside him.

"Really?" Ivan asks, surprising them as he comes over to sit with his sister.

"One word dude; overkill." Al says, having turned around in his seat to talk to everyone, while at the same time Natalia vehemently shakes her head, snaking her hands around to hold onto Ivan's arm.

Smiling innocently, Ivan purposefully looks over at Arthur as he hums in pretend thought, "Mhm, no. I don't think it was, I have seen overkill."

Following his gaze, Al turns to Arthur, raising his eyebrows at him in question.

Rolling his eyes at the look, Arthur sighs and, without turning around, asks, "Must you keep going on about that? That was _one_ time, and he bloody well deserved it."

"Yes." Ivan says rather candidly, "It was quite the sight."

"Eh, what'd Art do?" Mathias asks, leaning over to join in the conversation.

"Nothing." Arthur says, trying to sound passive but it comes out far too quick and only makes everyone more interested.

"Come on Arthur, spill it." Gilbert grins mischievously as he leans over to nudge the blondes head.

"Well," Ivan drawls, but before he can elaborate, their attention is drawn to the box stage as Davie starts talking.

"My my, that was some first round! Our competitors battled fiercely, and to those who lost, don't be disheartened, you all did well to get this far. As for our winners," he pauses to wave a hand up at the screen behind him, switching from the screensaver to display the roster. The names of those who lost switch to be highlighted in red, and the image of the Pokemon they used fades into a black silhouette. At the same time, the winners names light up in green, and the next stage is filled in with their names; Arthur, Lukas, Emil, Natalia, Matthew, Alfred, Gilbert and Ivan. "We'll be seeing them return tomorrow for round two! And this is our line up!"

The group look over the screen, each already planning for the battles ahead.

It's then that the Champion bounds up to take the microphone.

"Ve~ Good luck to all of you!"

* * *

 **Authors notes:** Woo, round one done! Now only eight remain, but who will ultimately win?

Fun fact time! Berlitz is the name of one of Germany's dogs, so I thought it fitting for Gil to have a Pokemon his brother helped name. Plus Sardine-Panic is one of the names Finland suggested to Sweden when naming Hanatamago, a name which itself came from Fin's suggestion of Bloody Egg Flower, man Tino has a weird naming habit.

Now here's a question for you, what Pokemon do you think our dear Champion Feli has? And what secrets does Ivan know about Arthur? I'll give you a hint, it may or may not have something to do with a certain Contest King…

Plus I finally got around to posting that promised tournament line-up on my tumblr, which I'll up date with the round ends.

What's next for our heroes? Stay tuned to find out!

R & R people.

Till next time stay awesome!


	44. Arthur vs Lukas, Emil vs Natalia

The next morning, Alfred stood impatiently at the foot of the grand staircase in the entrance of the Oxenstierna estate, waiting for the others. His stomach grumbling as he got another whiff of the breakfast Tino was making just down the hall. Normally he's one for just going straight in, but Tino insists everyone be present before they start, and Alfred doesn't want to be rude.

Luckily he doesn't have to wait too long before the first of the others makes their appearance.

First up is Toris being dragged down by the ever peppy Feliks. At this point Al doesn't think Feliks is even _capable_ of acting tired, much to Toris's obvious dismay. Thankfully for him, Feliks soon switches his attention to the much more alert Alfred.

"Hey guys!" Al grins at the pair as they make their way down.

"Mmh, something, like, so totally smells good!" Feliks says by way of greeting.

"I _know_ right? I wish the others would hurry up so we can go eat." Al agrees, practically drooling at the smell.

While they wait, Toris spies Arthur and Lukas chatting as they head down, shortly followed by Matthew sleepily cuddling Kuma to himself.

"Hey bro, sleep well?" Al asks as soon as he notices his twin, far too full of energy for this time in the morning.

"Yeeeeah…" Matt yawns, much to Al's amusement. Alfred wouldn't say he's an early bird, but he's _definitely_ more of a morning person than some.

Speaking of which, like a zombie rising from the grave, Gilbert shuffles down the stairs, all bed-hair and dishevelled pj's, his Torchic still out cold in his arms. Alfred knows to keep his distance from 'Just up Gil', at least until the guy has had his morning cup of coffee and can make more complex sounds beyond the unintelligible grunt he gives in greeting.

Next down is Ivan with his somewhat sleepy sister clinging to his side as they walk, followed by a silent Emil being dogged by Mathias.

Finally all gathered, the group shuffle into the dining room with varying degrees of alertness. Taking their seats, Al spots Berwald as he finishes setting the table before walking into the kitchen tailed by his energetic Lillipup. Moments later he returns with Tino and Delibird at his side, all carrying trays filled with food.

"Morning everyone!" Tino chirps as he sets his tray down, a tower of waffles and pancakes surrounded by several servings of butter and syrup.

Berwald places a tray carrying a pot of tea and coffee next to Tino's, before taking the smaller tray filled with milk and sugar from Delibird and adding it the the spread. The trio return to the kitchen, Tino bringing out more fresh toast and jams to the table, while Delibird helps Berwald bring out several dozen bowls filled with Pokemon food. Setting the bowls down at the far end of the room, Berwald joins the table while Tino gestures to the food.

"Dig in everyone!"

Glad for the shear size of the estate, everyone happily releases their Pokemon and gets stuck in. Pleased at how lively the house has become, Tino smiles to himself at the sight, and silently watches as Arthur easily chats with Lukas.

"Just like old times." He murmurs to himself.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Welcome back everyone to the fourth day of the Snow Star Tournament, and the second stage of the play offs!" Iris calls excitedly to the crowd.

The group of friends, minus two, sit together in their own little corner of the stands as they watch the field, the mounting energy of the stadium only making them more pumped up for the match just about to start.

"Please give a warm welcome to our first pair of the day, Lukas Bondevik and his opponent, Arthur Kirkland!"

The crowd roars appreciatively at the names, and Alfred makes his support known as he waves his arms wide at the pair.

"Show 'em what your made of Artie!" He cries loudly.

Not to be out done, Mathias booms over the cheers of those around them as he shouts down, "Kick his ass Lukas!"

But out on the field, the pair of trainers pay their friends no mind.

"It's been a while." Lukas notes, the slightest of grins playing at the corner of his lips as he regards Arthur standing across from him.

Smirking, Arthur nods as he pulls out his pokeball. "Just like old times huh?"

"Yes," Lukas agrees, taking out his own pokeball as a serious look crosses his eyes, "This may be for fun, but don't hold back." Arthur blinks at him, his words carrying a gravity that only the pair seem to understand. Standing tall, Lukas holds his pokeball out to Arthur, "It's been four years, I want to see the answers you found." He tosses his ball, releasing his trusted Glalie and calls over the rising wind, "Give me everything you've got."

Looking to his own pokeball, Arthur seems uncertain for only a moment, before the look is hidden behind a confident smirk.

"Very well, let's see just how far we've both come. Torch, to battle!"

The Fire and Ghost Pokemon bursts free, but one look at the large crowd filling the stadium has it diving for cover beneath Arthur's cape. The antics electing some laughs from the crowd as the timid Pokemon cowers.

"Torch," Arthur addresses his Pokemon as he pulls his cape aside and takes hold of the skittish ghost, "look over there." He smiles, pointing to Lukas across the field, "he's an old friend, _and_ he's strong. No holding back," Arthur nods to the Pokemon's surprised face, "forget the crowd, just focus on the battle. Think you can do that for me?"

Closing it's eyes, Lampent nods, turning to float out to the field, the scared Pokemon putting its trust in it's trainer and concentrating only on the battlefield.

"Good," Arthur nods, taking a deep breath as he quietly repeats to himself, "No holding back, eh?"

Once the two are ready, Berwald calls the match to start.

"Begin!"

Not wasting a second, Lukas is the first to act.

"Jötunn, Shadow ball."

Barely a second later Arthur calls out, "Counter with Energy ball!"

Despite Glalie being the first to move, both Pokemon launch their attacks at the same time, balls of green and black colliding in the middle of the field. The second they impact an explosion rips through the air as the energies collide, creating a dust cloud that whips up the snow covering the arena.

Lukas uses his arm to block the wind from his eyes, squinting out to the field, but he's not looking to where Lampent was, he knows Arthur too well to fall for this old trick.

"Jötunn drop now!" He quickly calls.

Trusting his trainers judgment implicitly, Glalie instantly drops out of the air to hover inches above the ground, and just in time too, as out of seemingly nowhere Lampent appears behind where the Ice Pokemon had been floating, the fire of an attack already building between its hands.

Seeing the danger coming, Lukas is quick to call out, "Gyro Ball into the snow!"

Spinning quickly, Glalie pushes down into the snow, the force of its rotations enough to send the cold snow out into the air around it in an icy shower.

It's aim thrown off by the snow spray, Lampent misses the large Pokemon with it's fiery attack as it's forced back from the flying snow.

Seemingly without being commanded, Lampent switches tactic as it retreats high into the air away from the Ice Pokemon spinning below.

"Nice try Arthur," Lukas grins, "But you've been using that trick since we were kids."

Shrugging Arthur grins right back as he watches his Pokemon put a safe distance between their opponent. "What can I say, it was worth a shot."

A half smirk crossed Lukas's face as he discreetly signalled to Jötunn to stop spinning. "Show me something new." He challenges as he flicks his wrist, his Glalie getting the message and launching into attack.

Shooting upwards at speed, the Ice Pokemon closes the distance between the pair, and in a matter of seconds, now hovered directly below Lampent.

"Shadow Ball!"

Though Lukas called the attack, the keen observer would have seen his Pokemon already building up the energy as it rose through the air, the dark ball ready to fire the second it was in close range.

Caught of guard by the suddenness and closeness of the attack, neither Arthur nor Lampent could react in time, the Ghost Pokemon helpless but to take the direct hit.

"Laaaa!" Torch cries out in pain as it's sent hurtling backwards by the shear force of the attack, tumbling through the air and into the stands.

Lukas watches closely as the hit lands, but before Lampent can crash into the crowd it rights itself, and, taking advantage of knowing Glalie was watching it's fall, turns its gaze on the Ice Pokemon. In one seamless move from stopping it's fall Lampent sends out dazzling waves of shimmering light straight at Glalie, a Confuse Ray. Dazed by the lights, Jötunn becomes confused and wavers in the air as it squints at the world around it. Not missing a beat, Torch quickly switches into forming an Energy Ball in it's hands once more.

"Dodge Jötunn!" Lukas calls out, but his Pokemon is too confused to see the attack coming.

Dashing forward Torch uses it's momentum to add extra power behind its attack as it throws the ball straight for the confused Ice Pokemon. Pushed back from the force of the hit, Glalie let's out a cry of pain as it tries to focus on it's attacker.

Seeing that Lampent isn't about to let up, Lukas has no choice but to go on the offensive, calling out to his confused partner, "Gyro Ball!"

Unable to lock onto it's attacker, Glalie gives a cry of frustration as it begins to spin, hoping to blindly hit Lampent, it veers off to the side. But with little control over it's direction, Lampent easily floats out of the confused Pokemon's way, leaving it to spin down and straight into the arena barrier.

While Glalie is left reeling from the collision, Torch wastes no time in attacking again, generating intense flames in its arms as it makes ready to fire another attack.

Quickly taking his eyes from his partner, Lukas looks questioningly to Arthur. To anyone else it might look like Lampent is acting entirely on it's own, but Lukas knows differently, and despite the battle, he can't help but smirk as he sees the deep look of concentration in his friends eyes.

"You've gotten better at your control." He notes quietly, but the strong winds steal his voice from anyone hearing. "But we're far from finished." Looking back to the fight, he sees Lampent sending off a strong Inferno straight down in his dazed Pokemon.

The attack lands before Lukas can possibly counter, but luckily for him, the painful hit was enough to snap his Pokemon out of it's confusion.

Seeing the clarity return to his partners eyes, Lukas decides now is the time to use one of his own tricks.

"Jötunn Freeze-Dry!"

Just as Lampent seemed to be winding up for another Inferno, Glalie suddenly turns to face the Ghost Pokemon, it's large mouth dropping open as a powerful rush of ice cold air rises up out of it. Though not very effective on the dual Fire type Pokemon, it _is_ enough to throw the pair off for just long enough for Lukas to carry out his plan.

Signalling with his hand, he watches as his partner dives up, quickly clamping it's mouth down on Lampent's arm and begins to spin as it drives them both down to the ground. Trapped and unable to get free, Lampent's eyes glow as it uses Hex in an attempt to break free, but Glalie holds fast.

Timing it's spin just right, Lukas smirks as his Glalie perfectly combines Gyro Ball with Earthquake, smashing Torch into the ground beneath it. The force of impact strong enough to blast up a cloud of dust and ice to cover the field.

As the dust clears, Lukas watches closely as he sees Glalie holding the still Lampent beneath it in the small crater they made.

When all remains still Berwald makes to call the match. "Lampent is-" But his words are cut short as a sudden blast of fire out of Glalie's mouth sends the Ice Pokemon reeling backwards, a flash of flames flickering over it's body a clear sign of the burn inflicted by the attack.

Lukas blinks in surprise as Lampent gets back up, though it's clearly struggling to keep fighting.

"No holding back…" Arthur whispers as he raises his hand out to Torch.

"Laaa… Laaa… Lampent!" The Ghost Pokemon cries loudly as in the blink of an eye it sends off another Inferno, possibly the strongest one yet, and it collides with the burned Glalie.

Between the burn and sudden intensity of the attack, Glalie finally succumbs to all it's damage and faints.

Quite surprised by the sudden turn of events, Berwald takes a moment longer than normal to call the match to an end.

"Glalie is unable to continue, Arthur wins."

The match finally over, Arthur drops to his knees in time with Torch dropping to the ground.

Walking out to the field, Lukas pats his Pokemon a job well done.

"We did our best Jötunn, but it seems Arthur is far stronger than I realised." He smiles, recalling his partner, before walking over to carefully scoop Lampent up into his arms and make his way over to Arthur, still kneeling in the snow.

Above, the crowds cheers at the victory turn to murmurs of confusion as they watch the sight below.

Uncaring of the crowd Lukas kneels down in front of Arthur and hands him his Pokemon. Letting the wind cover their conversation as he leans in and whispers to his old friend, before getting up and offering his hand to help Arthur stand.

XoxoxoxoxoxoX

By the time the pair return to the stands the next match is just about to get under way.

"Way to go Artie!" Al cheers happily as he sees the pair coming back to their seats.

"Geez," Mathias raises an eyebrow at Arthur as he watches the blond drop back into his chair, "you really went all out."

Leaning over the back of the row in front Gil grins, "That was one hell of a battle. Really thought Lukas had won there for a second."

Waving the curious pair off, Arthur just shares a sly look with his old friend, "You wanted to see something new."

"True." Lukas nods as he pulls on Mathias's coat to make the boisterous blond sit back down.

Before anymore can be said the sound of Davie introducing the next pair draws everyone's attention back to the battlefield below.

"And now for our next pair, please welcome Emil Steilsson and his opponent, Natalia Arlovskaya!"

The pair walk out across from each other, Emil once again ignoring everything around him — only his Chatot on his shoulder able to get a reaction from the reclusive teen — while Natalia too only stares straight ahead, walking with the cold confidence of someone on a mission.

The tension between the pair fills the stadium with an air of expectation, as the normal roars of cheers have been mostly replaced with expectant stares. To his right Alfred can see the quiet looks of support from Lukas, Mathias and Tino. Even Ivan is silent as he watches his sister stand across from the younger trainer. Unlike with the last match, the sense of friendly rivalry is oddly absent, and Al gets the feeling that the pair both have something to prove.

As Berwald waits to call the oddly tense match to start, Natalia is already showing her plan as she sends out her partner.

"Waaalllll!" Walrein cries as it's released.

Arthur frowns down at the choice as he can guess Natalia's plan. Not having used her Walrein in any of her group matches before, she's no doubt trying to catch Emil off guard. Now he can't use anything he's seen before to help his battle plan.

But on the other side of the field, Emil doesn't seem the least bit bothered by the sudden change from Natalia's norm, instead he frowns up at the sky, watching the dark clouds gathering as the wind only grows stronger.

Making his mind up, Emil also sends out a surprise.

"Veðurstjóri, you're up."

"Caaassss!"

Bursting free from its pokeball, the grey form of a Castform appears.

Choices made, Berwald calls the battle to begin.

"Frost, Rock Tomb!" Natalia shouts over the wind.

As the large Icy Pokemon quickly generates massive rocks to hurl at the much smaller normal type, Emil keeps his cool, carefully watching the falling rocks.

"Keep your distance Veðurstjóri."

" _Keep_ _your_ _distance_!" Chatot parrots as Castform obeys.

Moving back, the small Pokemon delicately weaves between the rocks, dodging the attack, but makes no move to counter back.

Growing annoyed by the missed attack and lack of response Natalia quickly calls her next move.

"Blizzard!"

Crying out loudly, Walrein generates a powerful blizzard to blast across the whole field, the strong wind whipping around only adding the the attacks strength.

But rather than be fazed but the strong attack, Emil does something rather unexpected.

"Dive into it!" He calls, raising a hand to see through the wind and snow.

Not showing any hesitation, Castform does just that, charging into the heart of the blizzard, seemingly uncaring of the damage the attack will cause. Natalia blinks in surprise at the odd command, but Emil is solely focused on watching his Pokemon being blasted with ice and snow. And then, a rare half smile crosses his face as he watches his Castform begin to change.

"Weather Ball into the sky now!" Emil shouts over the wind as he's partner shifts and changes, before turning up to face the sky and fire off an icy ball straight up into the air, disappearing into the clouds above.

The blizzard finally dies down as Walrein tires, unable to keep the attack up, and the field settles once more, only the strong winds remaining. But before Natalia can call her next move, she blinks as a scattering of hail begins to fall, quickly picking up until the whole arena is being pelted with the tiny ice balls racing down. Looking across the field, now she understands what Emil was up to.

"You used my blizzard to turn your Castform into the Snowy form, that way, it's Weather Ball attack would become an Ice type." She frowned as she tried to puzzle out the teens odd plan. "Using the attack, you made the clouds break to start a hail storm on our battle. So now your Castform will remain an Ice type. But that won't help you," she smirked, "you've only made this easier for me!"

Regardless of Natalia's claim, Emil suddenly switches to directly attacking. "Veðurstjóri Energy Ball!"

" _Energy_ _Ball_ _cha_!" Chatot cries in unison.

The ball forms quickly in front of the now blue faced Castform, and launches at the stationary Walrein, but Natalia doesn't bother to counter, watching as the attack lands.

"Waaalll…" Walrein grunts at the damage, but a second later it's body glows as the hail continues to rain down, slowly healing the damage just inflicted.

"Like I said, you made this easier for me." Natalia warns, before calling her next attack, "Now Frost, Rock Tomb again!"

Keeping focus, Emil calls out, "Dodge and Weather Ball!"

As the rocks fly Castform works to weave between them, while simultaneously generating the ball of ice from the falling hail to fire one after the other to block the rocks it can't dodge. The battlefield quickly becoming peppered with dozens of the large rocks, a scattering of the central ones covered in a layer of ice from the Weather Balls deflecting them.

But even as the attack fails to land, Natalia is already working on her next plan, which quickly becomes apparent to Emil.

With all the rocks scattered about, Natalia has limited Castform's movement, creating a directing tunnel forcing the small Pokemon to face Walrein straight on. Partially trapped by the restricting rock walls, Natalia wastes no time in calling, "Brine!"

It's line of movement limited, Castform has no choice but to climb up into the air to try to get away, but it's not fast enough, and the blast of salt water strikes it, sending it backwards out the air and crashing into the ground.

But that doesn't stop Emil, grinning as the struck Castform suddenly dissipates into a pile of ice and snow.

"What?" Natalia questions in surprise.

"Energy Ball!" Emil call's loudly, and from behind a rock just beside Walrein his partner reappears, firing off the attack at close range, strong enough to knock Walrein onto it's side.

"How?" Natalia demands, glaring at the sight before her.

Hiding back behind the rocks, Natalia catches a flash of Emil's hand as he silently signals his partner, before she sees Castform moving between the rocks.

"Frost, Brine again!" She calls, pointing to the poorly hidden Pokemon.

Her partner slowly rights itself, aiming to fire off the attack again, only to hear Emil call out, "Energy Ball!" And the green ball of energy collides with Walrein from the opposite side of where Natalia could have sworn she just saw Castform.

It takes her a second to figure it out, frowning in annoyance for falling for the trick.

"Substitute huh?"Again she sees movement, but this tie. She won't be fooled.

"Frost Protect now!"

Quickly raising the doom barrier, instead of watching for movement, she pays attention to where the next attack comes from, before ordering, "Blizzard to your left!"

Hurriedly obeying, Emil is forced to watch as his hiding Castform is pinned behind the rocks in a desperate attempt to not take damage this time, all the while Walrein slowly begins to heal thanks to the still falling hail.

With the sneaky Substitute destroyed and Castform's true location found, Natalia is quick to build on her advantage.

"Brine!"

Seamlessly switching attacks, Walrein changes to firing off the powerful saltwater spray directly over where Castform is hiding.

As the water rains down over Castform, Emil watches the puddles form all across the battlefield leading right back to Walrein. Seeing his chance Emil shouts, "Shock Wave Veðurstjóri!"

Using the water to their advantage, Castform releases the unexpected Electric attack, electricity suddenly sparking all around and running through the water right into the unsuspecting Walrein.

"Waaalll!" It cries in pain, and Emil doesn't let up there.

"Energy Ball once more!"

"Protect!" Natalia calls, but as the electricity continues to crackle around her partner she realises that Walrein has been paralysed.

Helpless, she watches as the Castform gets in close and fires off the attack, once more knocking her Pokemon onto it's side.

"Grab it and use Shock Wave again!" Emil calls, seeing his opening before Walrein can begin to heal again.

Grabbing onto the front flipper of the prone Walrein, Castform releases another powerful shock.

And this time, it's all over.

"Walrein is unable to continue, Emil wins!"

At the call the silent tension of the crowd erupts into loud cheers.

Sighing at her loss, Natalia fixes Emil with a hard stare as he recalls his Pokemon. Seemingly sizing the young teen up in a new light she huffs, "Even if you beat me, brother will still win." Before walking off.

As the pair return to their seats and the field is reset the Champion grins out from the box stage.

"Ve~ What a match! We've had some really intense battles this round, I can't wait to see what happens next!"

* * *

 **Authors** **notes:** *Rises out of the ashes* **I** **LIVE!**

Hello yes, I'm back! Geez I am so sorry for that unexpected hiatus, but let me tell you it has been one wild ride for me. Between the last update and now I sprained _both_ my wrists (the right one one week, then the left _right_ after the first was getting better) so I couldn't write for like 2 weeks, then I got a terrible flu, the kind you think your dying from, then I got distracted by an event as I tried to get back into writing and work on some one-shots, then I got a job, quit the job, got distracted by another event, then felt really bad that this story had been left for so long, so here we are!

But yes, Arthur is a badass, Lukas is a badass, Emil is surprisingly strong, Natalia is annoyed yet privately impressed and Feli is just having a good ol' time watching everything.

Anyway, updates should now return to something of a regular schedule. Hopefully.

R & R people.

Until next time, stay awesome!


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